Wen’s visit cancellation: Nepal’s diplomatic debacle

Yuba Nath Lamsal

In the world of diplomacy, maturity, etiquette and sensitivity play vital role. The conduct of diplomacy is a delicate matter that needs high degree of sophistication and maturity. Diplomacy is not politics but an art of articulation and negotiation which requires high degree of sensitivity, maturity and sophistication. In other words, diplomacy is a battle to be fought without weapons and soldiers but with the art of convincing others. The words, tone and body language have their own meaning and carry especial message in the conduct of diplomacy. Even a slight mistake in the selection of words and use of tone and body language give negative message in diplomacy which would be costly for countries or individuals that are assigned to conduct diplomacy. In the absence maturity and sensitivity, countries and diplomats fail to achieve the goal they seek to achieve. This is what has exactly happened in Nepal in the wake of postponement of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

Premier Wen was supposed to pay a state visit to Nepal from December 20 to December 22, 2011. However, the visit was abruptly postponed barely a week prior to Wen was to touch down the tarmac of Tribhuvan International Airport. For practical purpose, the visit was virtually cancelled and Chinese Premier is less likely to come to Nepal in near future possibly as long as the current coalition government remains in office.

In public, the Chinese side has attributed the postponement of the visit to China’s own internal situation. But the cancellation of the visit is entirely due to Nepal’s diplomatic childishness. Nepal is definitely capable of providing foolproof security to foreign dignitaries which it had done during the visit of many high-level foreign guests. Many top level foreign dignitaries like presidents and prime ministers of several important countries including China and India in which Nepali security agencies in which there was no lapse of security arrangement. Nepali security agencies are professionally par excellence and are fully capable of providing all kinds of security for high-level dignitaries. Despite this, China was not assured of foolproof security during Wen’s visit. This is not because of capability of the security agencies but because of irresponsible and undiplomatic behavior of some politicians and people in power. There were series of cases and events that have made China susceptible which ultimately led to cancellation of such a highly important visit. Firstly, it was high degree of diplomatic immaturity, on the part of the Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai himself and Foreign Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha. Dr Bhattarai announced Wen’s visit when the two countries were still working out the details and dates of the visit. It is the long-held tradition to announce the high-level visits by both the countries simultaneously only after the details including the itinerary and dates are finalized. But Prime Minister Dr Bhattarai seemed to be unaware of the basic minimum principle of diplomacy but announced casually the dates when the nitty-gritty of the visits was still being discussed. This was also not appropriate from security point of view as well. Similarly, Deputy Prime Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha, who also holds the portfolio of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was hastened to announce the Chinese aid package that Nepal and China were supposed to sign during Wen’s visit even before they had been finalized. Deputy Prime Minister Shrestha who was in Beijing for a discussion with Chinese officials to work out Wen’s visit and agreements to be signed between the two countries disclosed everything in Hong Kong in an interview to a Nepali daily before he arrived Nepal. This was high degree of diplomatic immaturity on the part of the senior member of the cabinet that too holding the portfolio of foreign ministry.

So far as Chinese assistance to Nepal is concerned, China is very liberal and generous to assist Nepal’s development endeavors. This is mainly because of Beijing’s good neighbourhood policy to assist immediate neighbours at the optimum level and also the especial priority Beijing has attached to relations with Nepal. Nepal is a country China has attached greater importance which would have been reflected in the aid package that was likely to be signed during Premier Wen’s visit. By forcing Beijing to cancel the visit, Nepal has lost an opportunity to win China’s trust and benefit from its generosity.

China’s principal concern in China is Tibet and Beijing wants strong assurance from Nepal government that no activities are permitted in Nepal that is likely to harm China’s interest and more particularly Tibet’s security. However, activities and attitude of some senior ministers gave Beijing the impression that Nepal has paid only lip service to China’s core concern and sensitivity. China was not even assured of Nepal’s government’s capability of ensuring foolproof security during Wen’s visit let alone China’s own security.

Some external forces were not happy with Premier Wen’s proposed visit and they were all out to sabotage the trip. Even some cabinet ministers and their parties became part to the design to sabotage Wen’s trip to Nepal. Nepal’s southern neighbour—India—perceives China as its security threat and considers Nepal as its domain of influence. India is in the wrong perception that China’s presence and role in Nepal would reduce India’s influence and domination. This is New Delhi’s flawed and false notion. In fact, Nepal is an independent country and not a domain of influence of any other country. Also China is not security threat to any other country in the world, which Beijing has time and again made public. China has not appetite for other’s territories and also does not want to get involved in other’s internal matters. So far as Nepal is concerned, China always wants good and friendly relations with Nepal and suggests Nepal to have similar relations with all other countries including India. What New Delhi thinks about Nepal’s relations and cooperation with China is the reflection of its inferiority complex in the international diplomacy.

But New Delhi takes China as its competitor in regional affairs. In fact, China is not India’s competitor. If China is, at all, competitor, it is with the United States not others. China is not competitor but contributor to development in South Asia. But India thinks otherwise and suspect China in everything including its relations with Nepal. New Delhi, thus, acted in collusion with some western powers to sabotage Wen’s visit in which some constituent s of the present Bhattarai-led coalition government became party to this sinister design. Although Prime Minister Bhattarai may have certain India-tilt because of his long stay in New Delhi in course of his pursuing higher education, his intention should not be questioned. He was enthusiastically waiting for the opportunity to receive the Chinese Premier. He wanted the Chinese Premier to visit Nepal at the earliest to dispel the misconception about his India-tilt and maintain perfect balance between China and India. But coalition partners of his own cabinet and ministers became party to the design which led to cancellation of Wen’s visit to Nepal.

His coalition partners mainly the Madhesi parties appeared less comfortable with the Chinese Premier’s visit to Nepal because of their attitude to please their New Delhi’s masters. Soon after the dates for the Chinese Premier were announced, although unilaterally by the Nepalese side, and Wen’s visit was almost confirmed, some ministers belonging to Madhesi parties publicly threatened to pull out from the coalition government. When the fate of the Prime Minister Dr Bhattarai was uncertain, it was natural for Beijing to rethink about the visit. The threat of withdrawing from the government was motivated by the design to sabotage Premier Wen’s visit at the behest of New Delhi.

India does not want friendly relations between Nepal and China. China’s presence and role in Nepal would definitely reduce India’s highhanded role and interference in Nepal. At any cost, New Delhi wanted to ensure that Wen’s visit may not take place at the present situation of Nepal, for which India used Madhesi parties. It is not long ago that Maoist chairman, when he was Prime Minister, had to face accusation from New Delhi and their henchmen in Nepal of playing China card. The accusation came from New Delhi when Prachanda went to Beijing to attend the inauguration ceremony of Beijing Olympic Games as his first leg of foreign trip, which annoyed New Delhi. India wants any new Nepal’s Prime Minister to make a pilgrimage to New Delhi before embarking on any foreign trip. But Prachanda tried to break the previous tradition and chose to go to China on his first foreign trip after he became the Prime Minister. This created friction between Prachanda and New Delhi that ultimately compelled Prachanda to quit from premiership in an India-engineered Katwal issue. Katwal issue was just a pretext but it was the struggle between New Delhi’s design to keep Nepal under its domain of influence and Maoist bid to come out of Indian domination.

One accepts it or not, the present government is responsible for the cancellation of Chinese Premier Wen’s visit. It is an unfortunate incident for Nepal because there was a comprehensive package of aid that Beijing was to announce during Wen’s visit. China has stated that the visit had to be postponed because of China’s internal situation. But this is just China’s diplomatic overture not to embarrass Nepal. China has the tradition of making the annual calendar of activities of its top level dignitaries like the President and Prime Minister. The visit of high level personality is cancelled only when there is a state of emergency, big natural calamity and political upheaval. No such situation exists in China and everything is going on smoothly. Thus, the visit was cancelled not because of China’s internal circumstances but because of Nepal’s own insensitivity and lack of diplomatic maturity.

The cancellation of Chinese Premier’s visit is a big diplomatic debacle of Nepal and will have a far reaching repercussion in Nepal’s diplomatic image and credibility in the international arena. China is a great friend of Nepal and friend in need. One accepts it or not, we are losing our credibility in the international arena due to such acts of diplomatic immaturity and tendency of some parties and politicians to work at others’ behest instead of working independently for the greater interest of the Nepal and the Nepalese people.