News, Views From Nepal

Yuba Nath Lamsal The announcement that came from the mouth of non other than Nepal's Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is arriving at Kathmandu next month on a three-day official visit beginning December 20 has stirred enthusiasm as well as ripples both in Nepal and abroad. The news has created enthusiasm among the Nepali people and others who want to see strong, friendly and cooperative relations between these two close neighbours. This section of people, which forms a large majority in Nepal, are now eager to welcome Prime Minister of the country which is not only a cradle of civilization and a great international power but also a good friend and well-wisher of Nepal and the Nepalese people. Wen will be the highest ranking politician of China to visit Nepal in the period of one decade. The last Chinese premier to visit Nepal was Zhu Rongji in 2001. Earlier, Premier Li Peng, Zhou Enlai and president, Li Xiannian and Jiang Zemin too ha...

Yuba Nath Lamsal Nepal's politics is ruptured and the political parties fractured. Ruptured in the sense that Nepal's politics has lost its cohesiveness and rationality. Nobody can predict in which and what direction the country's politics will head. This is mainly because of the unreliability and unpredictability of the political parties and their leaders. Nepal has had unique political experience. We have come a long way from feudalism, oligarchic rule, monarchical absolute regime, guided democracy in the name of multi-party system, one-party Panchayat rule, monarchical democracy to the present federal republican democracy. Our political journey has been long, arduous and tumultuous. But the Nepalese people are docile, obedient and law abiding. As law abiding citizens, they trusted and obeyed the rulers in the past with the hope that those at the helms of affairs would bring them and the country good fortune. But their beliefs were often proved wrong, and the peop...

Yuba Nath Lamsal The 17th summit meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) recently concluded in Addu Atoll of the Maldives, which appears to be a turning point in its history. Coming to the 17th Summit, the SAARC has traversed a long and tumultuous journey and has finally proved its worth. Some new initiatives now are afoot to turn the SAARC from a regional gossiping club of South Asian leaders into a vibrant and resourceful regional body. Much was discussed among the leaders of the South Asia and observer countries especially on the sidelines of the formal meetings. Talks were held and ideas were exchanged on various issues including enlargement of the SAARC. Currently, there are eight members and nine observers. The eight members include Nepal, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Afghanistan. The observer countries are China, Mauritius, Japan, South Korea, Australia, United States of America, Iran, Myanmar and Europe...

Yuba Nath Lamsal Nepal’s politics is ruptured and the political parties fractured. Ruptured in the sense that Nepal’s politics has lost its cohesiveness and rationality. Nobody can predict in which and what direction the country’s politics will head. This is mainly because of the unreliability and unpredictability of the political parties and their leaders. Nepal has had unique political experience. We have come a long way from feudalism, oligarchic rule, monarchical absolute regime, guided democracy in the name of multi-party system, one-party Panchayat rule, monarchical democracy to the present federal republican democracy. Our political journey has been long, arduous and tumultuous. But the Nepalese people are docile, obedient and law abiding. As law abiding citizens, they trusted and obeyed the rulers in the past with the hope that those at the helms of affairs would bring them and the country good fortune. But their beliefs were often proved wrong, and the people fe...

Yuba Nath Lamsal No sooner Nepal and India signed Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement or BIPPA, than scathing salvo started being fired at Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai and his government both in parliament and outside. A hardliner faction within his own Maoist party has come out openly criticizing the Prime Minister for what it called compromising national interest and sovereignty to New Delhi, while opposition parties used public forum to criticize the BIPPA agreement. Hardliner Maoist cadres demonstrated in front of the main gate of the Tribhuvan International Airport and greeted the Prime Minister with flag flags when he returned from India sojourn. There are two sets of opinion on the BIPPA. A section of people are critical of the agreement and dub it as a national capitulation and surrender of our national interest to India. There are other types of people who have blindly supported the deal saying the deal was a step towards bringing forei...

Yuba Nath Lamsal Yet another summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) started Wednesday (November 10) in Addu Atoll of the Maldives, where executive heads of the eight members states of South Asia are shaking hands, repeating the same old rhetoric and are likely to part away with promises to meet again the next year in Kathmandu. Lackluster performance The 17th SAARC summit began with the theme "Building Bridge" in which eight member countries and nine observers are taking part with much hype and hoopla. However, the summit is unlikely to arouse any genuine hope and enthusiasm among the people in the region because of its lackluster track record of 25 years since its inception. SAARC was created in 1985 with the objective of fostering cooperation among the member states so that South Asia would develop as one community willing and capable of tackling the burning and burgeoning problems faced by more than one-fifth of the world’s humanity. Much ha...

Yuba Nath Lamsal In the absence of a clear-cut definition, the national interest often gets blurred. Different forces and people interpret national interest differently to suit their own personal and partisan agenda. Only a definition of national interest will determine the broader objective and strategy of our foreign policy. Prior to foreign policy formulation, it is necessary to articulate a broader national goal to be achieved in the international front. The national goal and interest alone will guide the country’s foreign policy. Most countries in the world have a broad yet specific definition of national interest and their foreign policy goal. However, Nepal does not seem to have one. As a result, our foreign policy is conducted on an ad hoc basis. This is one of the reasons why our foreign policy priority has vacillated at times with the change of government. Frequent swings and shift in foreign policy and its priorities ruin the country’s credibility in the international commun...