PM’s India Visit: Issues And Concerns
By Yuba Nath Lamsal
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal’s much anticipated visit to India is finally going take place from August 18. It is a routine affair of the Nepalese prime minister as any new head of the government embarks on foreign trip beginning with Delhi sojourn.
According to officials, the visit of the Nepalese Prime Minister is basically a good will trip. The official visit of the Prime Minister Nepal at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh is definitely a goodwill one which would seek to further consolidate the bilateral relations existing between the two countries. But this visit is more than just the goodwill one. This is an official visit which will have to focus on some longstanding problems that have caused irritants on several occasions between the two countries. There are certain issues which cannot be solved easily at the bureaucratic level and they need to be dealt at the highest political level between the two prime ministers. Our Prime Minister is, thus, expected to use this opportunity and live up to the expectation of the vast majority of the Nepalese people.
Sources at the Prime Minister’s office and Foreign Ministry say that economic cooperation, trade and investment would figure in the Prime Minister’s visit. These issues are definitely important ones, which must figure in the talks between the two countries. But there are some more important and crucial issues that should be taken up with prominence.
Nepal and India are close neighbours with open border, common culture and many other commonalities. The problems are common and so are the opportunities. On the surface, Nepal and India have no problem at all. Being the closest neigbours, the two countries have unique relationship which rarely exists between other countries in the world. But there are many fundamental and pressing issues that have remained unresolved for years and decades, which have made these countries susceptible to one another on different occasions.
Nepal is a small country in terms of geographical size, population and economy. Nepal’s vulnerability is more than that of India when it comes to bilateral relations and dealings. The open border and free flow of people across the border may have advantages. The open border is more advantageous for India than for Nepal. India spends billions of rupees annually to protect its border in other parts—along the border with China and Pakistan. The border security has been a costly business for India. But its border with Nepal is fully secured, which has saved huge amount of New Delhi’s national budget because of friendly Nepal. However, Nepal has never sought and got its dividend.
At the same time, the open border has some negative ramifications too. The negative impact is more for Nepal than for India. The cross border crimes, terrorist activities, smuggling of fatal weapons, human trafficking are some of the issues that have been a headache for both the countries. Some unscrupulous elements have taken advantage of the open border and created problems on both sides of the border. India has often raised the issue of infiltration of terrorists into India via Nepal border. There may have been some salt of truth in it. But it is not Nepal’s official policy to harm the interest of its friend and neighbour. Nepal does not allow any activities on its soil that are against the interest of any friendly countries—be it against India or China.
The open border and unregulated flow of the people have some negative impact in Nepal. In a country which is far smaller than India on all accounts, Nepal has faced the brunt of demographic imbalance due to unregulated and un-checked migration from across the southern border. The border dispute has been a recurrent phenomenon as the people living in the border area and experts have often complained that our territory has been continuously encroached in several points. But the government has not come out with its clear views on such a serious national issue. Similarly, the villages in some border areas have been inundated during the rainy season due to the construction of dams in some rivers by India. The Laxmanpur and Raswawal Khurdlotan dams are the ones to name a few that have caused inundation in Nepali areas.
The open border is the example of unique and especial relationship between Nepal and India but there must be regulation of movement of the people along the border. This would help in checking cross border crimes, smuggling, infiltration of terrorists and other unwanted activities that are likely to harm the interest of both the countries.
The other very prominent issue that has been contentious and controversial is the sharing and harnessing the water resources. Nepal has tremendous potentials of hydro power development from its perennial snow-fed rivers. India is facing a huge power crunch and its demand for power is increasing every year. Nepal has potentials hydro power generation and India is desperate need of power. People in the both countries can benefit immensely if the water resources are harnessed jointly and judiciously. But all the agreements and arrangements regarding the harnessing the water resources between Nepal and India have been controversial. Be it Gandaki, Koshi or Mahakali agreements, Nepalese people have the feeling that Nepal has been screwed up and has not been able to take due benefit. India did it for its national interest but Nepalese politicians and officials are to be blamed for not giving due attention to the national interest while negotiating with India. Even a decade after the Mahakali Treaty was signed, the detailed project report of the Pancheswar project has not been prepared, let alone its construction. Now the time has come to correct the past mistakes and begin afresh to harness the water resources for the mutual interest and benefit of both the countries.
The other most important and most debated issue is the 1950 treaty. Ever since the treaty was signed, there has been strong demand from different quarters for its abrogation or amendments. Despite demand for the review and amendment in the treaty, the governments of both the countries were not prepared to buzz to popular demand. The CPN-UML minority government officially raised the issue relating to the review 1950 treaty 15 years ago during the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Adhikar to New Delhi. India’s response was cold and negative which even caused some irritants in the relations between the UML minority government and New Delhi. But India has lately been positive in the review of the treaty. When Prime Minister Prachanda visited India last year, it was agreed to form a joint committee to study and prepare a report for the necessary changes in the 1950 treaty. This was the only single biggest achievement of the Maoist-led government in the foreign policy front.
Now the present government has to move even further. During the visit and meeting with the Indian leaders and officials, Prime Minister Madhav Nepal needs to take up these issues and reach a concrete agreement to resolve all these pressing problems. The relations between the two countries cannot be strengthened and made more cordial just by brushing the problems under the carpet. If the relations have to be made problem-free, all the pending issues must be resolved in an amicable manner. To deal with these issues, Nepal needs to take extra caution and do full homework. The past experiences have shown that Nepal could not have upper hand in the negotiation on various issues with India simply because of the lack of proper homework and perfect negotiating skill. It is now expected that the Nepalese side would do a better homework so that Nepal would be in better position while dealing with India on various issues. The upcoming visit of the Nepalese prime minister is, thus, expected to create a new history in the relationship between Nepal and India by taking up all the issues and resolving in the interest of Nepal.
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal’s much anticipated visit to India is finally going take place from August 18. It is a routine affair of the Nepalese prime minister as any new head of the government embarks on foreign trip beginning with Delhi sojourn.
According to officials, the visit of the Nepalese Prime Minister is basically a good will trip. The official visit of the Prime Minister Nepal at the invitation of his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh is definitely a goodwill one which would seek to further consolidate the bilateral relations existing between the two countries. But this visit is more than just the goodwill one. This is an official visit which will have to focus on some longstanding problems that have caused irritants on several occasions between the two countries. There are certain issues which cannot be solved easily at the bureaucratic level and they need to be dealt at the highest political level between the two prime ministers. Our Prime Minister is, thus, expected to use this opportunity and live up to the expectation of the vast majority of the Nepalese people.
Sources at the Prime Minister’s office and Foreign Ministry say that economic cooperation, trade and investment would figure in the Prime Minister’s visit. These issues are definitely important ones, which must figure in the talks between the two countries. But there are some more important and crucial issues that should be taken up with prominence.
Nepal and India are close neighbours with open border, common culture and many other commonalities. The problems are common and so are the opportunities. On the surface, Nepal and India have no problem at all. Being the closest neigbours, the two countries have unique relationship which rarely exists between other countries in the world. But there are many fundamental and pressing issues that have remained unresolved for years and decades, which have made these countries susceptible to one another on different occasions.
Nepal is a small country in terms of geographical size, population and economy. Nepal’s vulnerability is more than that of India when it comes to bilateral relations and dealings. The open border and free flow of people across the border may have advantages. The open border is more advantageous for India than for Nepal. India spends billions of rupees annually to protect its border in other parts—along the border with China and Pakistan. The border security has been a costly business for India. But its border with Nepal is fully secured, which has saved huge amount of New Delhi’s national budget because of friendly Nepal. However, Nepal has never sought and got its dividend.
At the same time, the open border has some negative ramifications too. The negative impact is more for Nepal than for India. The cross border crimes, terrorist activities, smuggling of fatal weapons, human trafficking are some of the issues that have been a headache for both the countries. Some unscrupulous elements have taken advantage of the open border and created problems on both sides of the border. India has often raised the issue of infiltration of terrorists into India via Nepal border. There may have been some salt of truth in it. But it is not Nepal’s official policy to harm the interest of its friend and neighbour. Nepal does not allow any activities on its soil that are against the interest of any friendly countries—be it against India or China.
The open border and unregulated flow of the people have some negative impact in Nepal. In a country which is far smaller than India on all accounts, Nepal has faced the brunt of demographic imbalance due to unregulated and un-checked migration from across the southern border. The border dispute has been a recurrent phenomenon as the people living in the border area and experts have often complained that our territory has been continuously encroached in several points. But the government has not come out with its clear views on such a serious national issue. Similarly, the villages in some border areas have been inundated during the rainy season due to the construction of dams in some rivers by India. The Laxmanpur and Raswawal Khurdlotan dams are the ones to name a few that have caused inundation in Nepali areas.
The open border is the example of unique and especial relationship between Nepal and India but there must be regulation of movement of the people along the border. This would help in checking cross border crimes, smuggling, infiltration of terrorists and other unwanted activities that are likely to harm the interest of both the countries.
The other very prominent issue that has been contentious and controversial is the sharing and harnessing the water resources. Nepal has tremendous potentials of hydro power development from its perennial snow-fed rivers. India is facing a huge power crunch and its demand for power is increasing every year. Nepal has potentials hydro power generation and India is desperate need of power. People in the both countries can benefit immensely if the water resources are harnessed jointly and judiciously. But all the agreements and arrangements regarding the harnessing the water resources between Nepal and India have been controversial. Be it Gandaki, Koshi or Mahakali agreements, Nepalese people have the feeling that Nepal has been screwed up and has not been able to take due benefit. India did it for its national interest but Nepalese politicians and officials are to be blamed for not giving due attention to the national interest while negotiating with India. Even a decade after the Mahakali Treaty was signed, the detailed project report of the Pancheswar project has not been prepared, let alone its construction. Now the time has come to correct the past mistakes and begin afresh to harness the water resources for the mutual interest and benefit of both the countries.
The other most important and most debated issue is the 1950 treaty. Ever since the treaty was signed, there has been strong demand from different quarters for its abrogation or amendments. Despite demand for the review and amendment in the treaty, the governments of both the countries were not prepared to buzz to popular demand. The CPN-UML minority government officially raised the issue relating to the review 1950 treaty 15 years ago during the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Adhikar to New Delhi. India’s response was cold and negative which even caused some irritants in the relations between the UML minority government and New Delhi. But India has lately been positive in the review of the treaty. When Prime Minister Prachanda visited India last year, it was agreed to form a joint committee to study and prepare a report for the necessary changes in the 1950 treaty. This was the only single biggest achievement of the Maoist-led government in the foreign policy front.
Now the present government has to move even further. During the visit and meeting with the Indian leaders and officials, Prime Minister Madhav Nepal needs to take up these issues and reach a concrete agreement to resolve all these pressing problems. The relations between the two countries cannot be strengthened and made more cordial just by brushing the problems under the carpet. If the relations have to be made problem-free, all the pending issues must be resolved in an amicable manner. To deal with these issues, Nepal needs to take extra caution and do full homework. The past experiences have shown that Nepal could not have upper hand in the negotiation on various issues with India simply because of the lack of proper homework and perfect negotiating skill. It is now expected that the Nepalese side would do a better homework so that Nepal would be in better position while dealing with India on various issues. The upcoming visit of the Nepalese prime minister is, thus, expected to create a new history in the relationship between Nepal and India by taking up all the issues and resolving in the interest of Nepal.
Comments
Post a Comment