News, Views From Nepal

Yuba Nath Lamsal Diplomacy is said to be the second oldest profession, which has been in practice since ancient times. With the birth of human civilisation, more particularly urban civilisation, followed by the formation of the city state in ancient Mesopotamia, diplomacy has been a part of statecraft to indulge nations in communication. But the nature and scope of diplomacy have undergone a sea change over the years. Originally diplomats used to be sent only for negotiation on specific topics and would return home after accomplishing the mission. The Mahabharat epic states that Lord Krishna went to the court of Dhritarastra or Kauravas as a peace envoy of the Pandavas to prevent a possible war between cousins, implying that diplomatic practice as a peace mission prevailed in South Asia even in the prehistoric period. Kautilya’s Arthasastra (economic theory) and Nitisastra (statecraft theory) advocate the realist theory of foreign policy and diplomacy, providing a basic outline fo...

Yuba Nath Lamsal In the realm of foreign policy and international relations, diplomacy is an art that involves negotiation and all other forms of tactics and tools to achieve the set foreign policy goals of the concerned country without resorting to force. Scholars and statesmen, alike, may have their own but divergent views and definitions on diplomacy, its functions and apparatchiks. They, however, agree on the core premise that the objective and functions of diplomacy are to safeguard the national interest. Sun Tzu, a military general as well as philosopher in ancient China, says, in his book, ‘The Art of War’, that diplomacy is the “supreme art of war to subdue the enemy without fighting.” According to this definition, diplomacy is an alternative and the best alternative to war as it is an appropriate and morally justified approach to win over adversaries without using force and fatal weapons. Former Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai said, “All diplomacy is the continuation of war by...