A WATERSHED ON THE MAHAKALI
When Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his Nepali counterpart, Prakash Chandra Lohani, put their signature on a treaty for the integrated development of the Mahakali river, which runs along Nepal´s western border, it seemed that two unexpected advances had taken place, one relating to Nepal´s domestic politics, and the other on resource sharing between two South Asians.
Firstly, there was the unbelievable unanimity among the major political parties in Nepal, those in the ruling coalition as well as the main communist opposition, that this was the right thing to do. It came as a welcome departure for a country where India-bashing on river projects has for decades been the feeding trough on which the political opposition has fattened, with the communists having been the best at it.