Why PM Nehru Rejected The Offer To Make Nepal A Part Of India, Pranab Mukherjee's Memoir Reveals
How PM Jawaharlal Nehru rejected the opportunity that
Indira Gandhi would have seized. The incident has come to light through the
book 'The Presidential Years', a memoir of former president Pranab Mukherjee.
Why PM Jawaharlal Nehru Rejected The Offer To Make
Nepal A Part Of India, Pranab Mukherjee's Memoir Reveals
Late President Pranab Mukherjee in his autobiography
'The Presidential Years' revealed that the first Prime Minister of India Pdt.
Jawaharlal Nehru had rejected Nepal King Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah's offer to
make the Himalayan country a province of India.
The incident has come to light through reports on the
book 'The Presidential Years'. In chapter 11 titled 'My Prime Ministers:
Different Styles, Different Temperaments', Mukherjee wrote about his views on
the prime ministers and presidents of the country and their respective style of
functioning.
"Every PM has his or her own style of
functioning. Lal Bahadur Shastri took positions that were very different from
that of Nehru. There can be divergent perceptions among PMs, even if they
happen to come from the same party, on issues such as foreign policy, security
and internal administration," he wrote.
According to him, PM Nehru was very diplomatic in
dealing with Nepal as "After the Rana rule was replaced by the monarchy in
Nepal, he wished for democracy to take root. Interestingly, Nepal's king,
Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah, had suggested to Nehru that Nepal be made a province
of India. But Nehru rejected the offer on the grounds that Nepal was an
independent nation and must remain so".
