Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley on Thursday told media persons in Thimphu that his government was positive about solving the long running problems of “people in camps in Nepal” that has persisted over two decades.

PM Thinley

He told that the government serious to find a solution to the problem of people in the camps in Nepal that has often been blamed for taking Bhutan-Nepal relations into ransom, reports from inside said.

The Prime Minister expressed the government’s concerns over the people in the camps being one of the biggest problems, which continue to threaten the peace and stability of the country.

“Presently the position of the government is, we will take back anybody who fulfills the criteria agreed upon between Nepal and Bhutan in the bilateral discussion,” online edition of the Business Bhutan quoted the PM as saying.

He also reinstated that the bilateral talks on the repatriation between the governments of Nepal and Bhutan were stalled after a Bhutanese delegation was assaulted by the mob in the camps.

However, during the press meet, the PM also claimed that Bhutan is interested to initiate bilateral talks with the Nepal government soon.

“We need to resolve the issue quickly but a solution has not been easy to find as the two countries have struggled to find a solution for many years,” he said adding,” Almost a decade after the two governments broke talks on repatriation of people in the camps.”

According to Thinley’s claim, it was he who asked his Nepalese counterpart Dr Baburam Bhattarai to resume discussions on exiled citizens

“Now it appears that the majority of people in the camps have already registered for resettlement in the third world countries,” added the PM.

Interesting he maintained that whatever the status, background or the rights or the lack of rights of the people might be, the fact is because Bhutan is directly associated with the huge population in the camp, it has very strong security and political implications for Bhutan.

BNS