News, Views From Nepal

Yuba Nath Lamsal Otherwise far apart on several international issues, the UN member states have one thing in common—the reforms. This view was explicitly and more loudly expressed in the 65 th United Nations General Assembly, which is underway in currently New York, than ever before. From Algeria to Albania, Mongolia to Mozambique and China to Chile, all member states have one voice that the world body needed vigorous reforms in order to make the United Nations more representative, legitimate and efficient so that it can play more effectively its essential role in resolving the global challenges ranging from financial crisis to peace and security to climate change. However, the disagreements on its institutional modalities, regional rivalries and some structural and bureaucratic hurdles have dogged the much-vaunted agenda of UN reforms. Although the member states are demanding reforms in the United Nations organizational structure for the last 20 years, they are not unanimous

Yuba Nath Lamsal After Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal stepped down last week, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu responded to new political developments in Nepal saying ' China hopes that political parties in Nepal will seek consensus through dialogue'. Ma added, 'China values the friendship and cooperation between the two countries in accordance with the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence'. The quick response of the northern neighbour to Nepal's unfolding political developments exemplifies high priority China attaches to its relations with the Himalayan Republic. Soon after this, a high level delegation of China led by special representative of President Hu Jintao arrived in Kathmandu for a three-day good-will visit. The delegation led by Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and also secretary of the Commission for Politi

Yuba Nath Lamsal A 60-member high level delegation headed by special envoy of Chinese President Hu Jintao returned to Beijing last week after wrapping up a three-day good will visit to Nepal. The visit took place at a time when Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal had stepped down and a new process for the election of prime minister had begun. The visit of Chinese delegation led by Zhou Yongkang, Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and also secretary of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, had been worked out long ago through diplomatic channels of both the countries. However, the timing of the visit had given rise to speculations in the media and political circle of Nepal. Some even linked the visit of the Chinese team with the process of government formation in Nepal. A day before the Chinese team was to embark on Nepal visit, Prime Minister Khanal s

Yuba Nath Lamsal Buddhism is a vital link between Nepal and China and an important basis for bilateral relations both at official as well as popular levels. The relations between Nepal and China have existed from ancient time. Different personalities and people at different interval of time have played crucial and constructive role in nurturing and enriching the goodwill, bond of friendship and cooperation in varied fields between these two neighbors. The recurring and sustained exchanges of visits between leaders, scholars, religious personalities, businessmen and people of different vocations including artists and craftsmen have further deepened the bond of friendship between Nepal and China. Buddhism has served as a strongest thread to tie the people of two countries together right from the ancient time to the present era. A man who was born on the soil of Nepal over 2600 years ago attained highest form of spiritual enlightenment or Boddisattwa through

Yuba Nath Lamsal The communist movement in Nepal has a history of 62 years. During this six-decade-plus chequered and complex history, Nepal's communist movement has undergone many ups and down and taken many twists and turns. The mother party has been fragmented into many groups. Inspired by the October Revolution in Russia, the Chinese Revolution and rising revolutionary wave worldwide, Pushpa Lal Shrestha formed the Nepal Communist Party along with his four comrades-in-arms, namely, Nar Bahadur Karmacharya, Narayan Bilas Joshi, Niranjan Govinda Vaidya and Moti Devi in 1949. In the initial period, it was never thought that this force would be so popular and powerful within a few decades. During the last 62 years, the communist movement in Nepal has suffered serious setbacks, committed many mistakes and experienced crises and failures. At the same time, some great strides and achievements have also been made in advancing the movement to a newer

Nepal and China have once again reinforced their faith in good neighbourly and friendly ties existing between the two countries and have vowed to take these relations to greater heights. This spirit of camaraderie was expressed during the meeting and interaction between the Nepali leaders and visiting high-level delegation of China led by Zhou Yongkang, Standing Committee member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and also the Secretary of the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee of the Communist Party. Zhou was here as special representative of Chinese President Hu Jintao, who conveyed the message of goodwill from the Chinese president and people of China to the people of Nepal. During the interaction, the Chinese view was clear that the northern neighbour wants peace, stability and prosperity in Nepal, for which Beijing is prepared to make any kind of meaningful contribution. China’s Nepal policy is clear wh

Yuba Nath Lamsal For more than 240 years, Nepal's strategic position was interpreted from a narrow perspective, which limited our foreign policy options. Prithivi Narayan Shah, who unified Nepal by bringing together several tiny principalities with the strength of his swords, defined Nepal's strategic location as the one like a yam between two boulders. His interpretation of Nepal's strategic position was on the basis of regional situation followed by strength and attitude of the two powerful neighbors both in the north and the south. Prithivi Narayan Shah likened China in the north and British in the south (India) as the two boulders and tiny Nepal which was just struggling for survival as a fragile yam. The analogy of yam and boulders might have been true during the period of Prithivi Narayan Shah. This was the time when Nepal was on the unification campaign and had to act cautiously so that its military campaign would not end up in confront

Yuba Nath Lamsal Once again the political parties are busy in a exercise at forming anational unity government with the representation of all the political forces in the country. However, such a consensus-based government is mere wishful thinking because the parties are unwilling to give up their stance and arrogance on several key issues impacting the ongoing political process. The rhetoric to form a national consensus government appears to be guided more by their interest in grabbing power than giving the country an honourable and dignified outlet. Given the power equation in the Constituent Assembly, which is the only democratically elected institution in the country, there is no alternative to consensus and a national unity government if the political and peace process is to be concluded. The parties have already failed to live up to the people’s expectation that they would deliver a constitution within two years of the Constituent Ass

Yuba Nath Lamsal Any kind of developments in the bilateral relations between India and Pakistan draw global attention. This is because of the magnitude of impact India-Pakistan relations have in South Asia. The impact of the relationship between India and Pakistan is not limited to peace and stability not only in South Asia alone but goes beyond that and impacts on the entire world. Positive or negative, the developments in India-Pakistan bilateral relations send strong ripples globally. This is more so now than ever before because Asia has emerged as an international powerhouse with South Asia too emerging fast in the global arena economically. Now China and India are fastest growing economies in the world. China is already world's second largest economy accompanied by military power and increased international clout. India, too, is growing despite its numerous internal problems and constraints. The growth in Asia is in sharp contrast to the economic situation in the weste