News, Views From Nepal

Yuba Nath Lamsal United States President Barak Obama recently wrapped up his ten-day maiden Asia trip which has been dubbed as an image boosting initiative back home. Although Obama returned with high note of success in pursuing America's interest in Asia and bringing some jobs back home, the outcome is not as enthusiastic as it had earlier been expected. Obama's whirlwind visit of four Asian giants namely India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea came at a time when his popularity in America was in the lowest ebb. This was also reflected in the recently held mid-term elections in which Obama's Democratic Party lost to rival Republicans in both Senate (upper chamber of Congress) and House of Representatives (lower chamber). The election was a big blow to President Obama's reforms and other policies he promised during the election last year. There are a number of reasons for dwindling popularity of President Obama and his party. Firstly, Obama has not met with his promises

Yuba Nath Lamsal The global power equilibrium has changed completely. The situation that existed after World War II is nowhere to be seen in the 21st century. The post-war period saw a completely new international order in which the dominance and influence of the United Kingdom declined. Until the war, the United Kingdom was a colonial power throughout the world. But the colonies that were the main source of economic might of the United Kingdom got independence from British rule one after another, which reduced the UK to the status of an ordinary European power. Following World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as two superpowers, which dominated the world almost until the end of the last century. Cold peace The post-war period was marked by an ugly Cold War. The superpower rivalry over the domination of the world created a sense of tension and division in the world that gave a different shape to international politics and international order. However, this situati

By Yuba Nath Lamsal In a talk programme a fortnight ago, Pakistani Ambassador to Nepal Syed Abrar Hussain raised some pertinent issues related to peace in South Asia, of which he dealt with Kashmir issue in more detail clearly explaining how Kashmir is under siege. According to Ambassador Hussain, the legitimate freedom struggle to exercise the right to self determination of Kashmiri people is suppressed by force resulting in brutal violations of human rights by over 7,00,000 Indian troops deployed in Kashmir. It is true that Kashmir is a case of worst human rights violations in the world's history after Hitler's holocaust. Even Indians are now fed up with the central government's policy of suppression in Kashmir and have started coming up openly in favor of Kashmiri people's peaceful struggle. An acclaimed Indian writer and winner of several international prestigious awards Arundhati Roy has recently joined this bandwagon and said that Kashmir has never been a part of

By Yuba Nath Lamsal Even a layman in Nepal is starting to ask if the Constituent Assembly will ever write the new constitution. This is because the political parties that were entrusted with the job do not possess the capability and interest in writing the constitution and steering the country out of the crisis facing it. The parties and leaders still claim that they can accomplish the job. But the people are not prepared to believe them and are almost certain that the parties are neither going to write the constitution nor conclude the peace process. The rhetoric that the party leaders are making is just to confuse and mislead the people and the international community. Public opinion During the four-year journey since the peace process began, people have come to realise that the parties are not trustworthy because what they say is not meant to be accomplished. Public opinion about the political parties is so poor that the parties and leaders have simply lost credibility in the eyes o

Yuba Nath Lamsal Nepal and Bangladesh are neighbours and close friends that can share many things and cooperate with one another on various fronts. Nepal and Bangladesh possess many commonalities and also have similar experiences in nation building which can be shared by both the countries for their survival and development. Bangladesh is a new country created only 38 years ago following a mass revolt guided by Bengali nationalism. It used to be called East Pakistan until 1971 when Bangladesh was established as an independent and sovereign country. During the British engineered partition of Indian sub-continent on religious basis, the present Bangladesh was made a part of Pakistan simply because it had overwhelming Muslim majority. But the voice for the separate Bangladesh was raised even during the time of partition. A group of individuals had rejected the ‘two-nation theory’ on the basis of which Hindustan and Pakistan were created out of the British administered united India. Some B

Yuba Nath Lamsal A 21-member Chinese delegation paid a six-day goodwill visit to Nepal. The delegation was led by He Young, secretary of the Communist Party of China, which met and exchanged views on various matters with leaders and officials of Nepal that included President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and leaders of different political parties. This is the first high-level delegation from China since Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji visited Nepal in 2001. He Young holds the status of deputy prime minister. The Chinese delegation came here not on its own but at the invitation of the Nepal’s three major political parties namely the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) or UCPN-Maoist. This is a testimony that the government of China and the Communist Party of China attach greater importance to friendly, cordial and cooperative relations with Nepal and Nepal’s political parties. At a time when Nepal is passing through a difficul

Yuba Nath Lamsal Last week, Shyam Sharan came to Kathmandu acting as a special emissary of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with the purported objective of further strengthening India’s long held desire to keep Nepali politics under its tight grip. During his stay in the Nepali capital, the former Indian foreign secretary held a flurry of meetings with leaders of different political parties in which Saran prescribed Indian agenda to heal the Nepali political ill. He conveyed the sermon of the Indian establishment to the Nepali parties and leaders to continue with the present ‘democratic (pro-Indian) alliance’. This makes it clear that Saran’s mission was to weaken Nepal’s nationalist forces and keep them out of power and give continuity to the government that is composed of ‘pro-Indian elements’. But it is yet to be seen how far the Indian prescription and design work in Nepali politics. Some Indian mainstream media portrayed Saran’s visit to Kathmandu as a mission to mediate and b

Yuba Nath Lamsal Some foreign policy pundits tend to believe that the best foreign policy is ‘no foreign policy’. People who subscribe to this theory are of the view that the rigid foreign policy often handicaps a country to act and manipulate in the particular situation when international diplomacy is in disarray. If a country does not have its set foreign policy, it can adjust its position in the given situation to promote its national interest. Although this is not exactly the case, circumstances have it that Nepal appears to have subscribed to this view. Given the state of our diplomacy and national image in the international arena, it looks as if Nepal does not have its set foreign policy. Our officials in the Foreign Ministry always act on ad hoc basis and Nepal seems to have lacked its long-term goal and vision in the conduct of foreign policy and international diplomacy. As a result, Nepal’s image has been deteriorating in the international arena and our national interest has

Yuba Nath Lamsal It is the turn of Asian continent to get the chair of the United Nations General Assembly for the year 2011. Nepal has staked a claim for the chair of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) for which Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has already started lobbying for Nepal’s candidate. Some other countries including Qatar are also eying the prestigious post of the world body. The chair of the UNGA, which is the top most position of the UN system, rotates among different geographical regions of the world that include Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin or Caribbean region and West Europe. In Asian’s quota, Bangladesh, Malaysia, South Korea and Bahrain had got the opportunity to chair the UNGA in the past. Nepal has proposed Kulchandra Gautam, a former assistant under secretary general of the United Nations, for the coveted chair of the UN General Assembly. The caretaker prime minister, in a bid to garner support for Gautam’s candidacy in the UN, has already met amb

Yuba Nath Lamsal Some foreign policy pundits tend to believe that the best foreign policy is ‘no foreign policy’. People who subscribe to this theory are of the view that the rigid foreign policy often handicaps a country to act and manipulate in the particular situation when international diplomacy is in disarray. If a country does not have its set foreign policy, it can adjust its position in the given situation to promote its national interest. Although this is not exactly the case, circumstances have it that Nepal appears to have subscribed to this view. Given the state of our diplomacy and national image in the international arena, it looks as if Nepal does not have its set foreign policy. Our officials in the Foreign Ministry always act on ad hoc basis and Nepal seems to have lacked its long-term goal and vision in the conduct of foreign policy and international diplomacy. As a result, Nepal’s image has been deteriorating in the international arena and our national interest has

Yuba Nath Lamsal South Asia as a region is often looked upon by the world in a negative light. South Asia is touted as a region of poor and backward people, which is often conflict ridden and hotbed of terrorism. Such a remark may appear to be quite disparaging. But this is true, to a large extent, which can be substantiated by facts and figures. South Asia is home to the largest number of poor people in the world. Perhaps, one third population of the world’s poorest people live in South Asia. It is backward as its development level is only better than sub-Saharan Africa. The intrinsic conflict within a state and between states is worse than anywhere in the world. The level of animosity is so high that the clouds of war always hover in South Asian sky. No country in the region is in a position to fully trust the other. Every country suspects the other and there is hardly any harmony in relationship among them. Communal distrust and conflict are also high in the region. Communal riots

Yuba Nath Lamsal Viewed from historic perspective, Nepal-China relations can be traced back to prehistoric and pre-civilization period. The legend says that the Kathmandu Valley was once a big lake full of water with no human settlement. A Chinese saint from upper Tibetan plateau, Manjushree, came to what is now called Nepal. Manjushree drained the water out of the lake by making an outlet in Chovar, south western part of the Valley, and also started human settlement. This settlement quickly grew and expanded far and wide to become a nation called Nepal. This is how contacts and cooperation between the people of Nepal and China began and grew. Nepali civilization and Nepali nation germinated and grew with support from China. It can, thus, be said that China's contribution is so valued that Nepal's relations with China is incomparable to bilateral relations with any other country in the world. Right from the birth of Nepali civilization, the relations between these two Asian nei