For over four months, Nepal was held hostage to the political conflict between the ruling parties and the Madhesi opposition. The Madhesis imposed a blockade that caused much suffering across the country. And the government responded with an intransigent attitude, refusing to address key Madhesi demands.

Now, however, there appears to have been a shift in attitude on both sides. The Madhesi parties realised that the blockade was causing much suffering and anger even among the Madhesi population they said they were fighting for. The protestors on the streets were becoming exhausted and their numbers were steadily diminishing as a result. It was a wise decision to lift the blockade. After months of difficulty, the nation now has a reprieve and things can return to normal.

The government too has decided to take a more conciliatory approach. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has been the key figure in negotiations on the government side. On repeated occasions, there had almost been significant breakthroughs in talks with the Madhesi parties, but Oli’s interventions always foiled these attempts. He was staunchly opposed to demands to revise the federal boundaries. Numerous rounds of talks ended inconclusively after he rejected the demand for a political mechanism to redraw the state borders within three months.

Now, however, Oli has come around to accepting the demand for the creation of a commission. This probably has to do with his upcoming visit to India. He perhaps feels that it is necessary to demonstrate progress on resolving the Madhesi issue before the visit. The Indian government has long demonstrated a deep interest in this issue. Whatever the motivation, Oli’s change in position is an appreciable step, which could help reconcile deep divisions in Nepali politics and society.

But there are still some problems. The two sides have not completely agreed on the modalities of a change. The protesting parties still state publicly that they want two states in the Tarai. The major parties remain opposed to this. Fortunately, Madhesi leaders now privately say that they are amenable to a compromise on this issue. On the other hand, the Madhesi parties continue to demand that the government formulate precise Terms of Reference (ToR) for the mechanism that will be created. They argue that only if such a ToR is created will the mechanism be able to accomplish its goal of revising federal boundaries within three months. The government still seems somewhat reluctant to accept this.

Having come so far, the parties should demonstrate some flexibility and agree to formulate such guidelines for the mechanism. After all, this is not a very difficult step to take and it would be unfortunate if talks broke down over such a minor issue.