News, Views From Nepal

Yuba Nath Lamsal: -- It’s been almost a year since KP Sharma Oli assumed the responsibility of premiership last time. He was appointed Prime Minister on July 15, 2024, which is his third tenure as Prime Minister. He earlier served as prime minister from October 2015 to July 2016 and from February 2018 to August 2021. He twice led the government with the support of the CPN-Maoist Centre and he had to quit the government due to a problem and misunderstanding with the CPN-Maoist Centre. Now he is at the helm of power in partnership with the Nepali Congress (NC). The formation and collapse of the government in Nepal is determined by the number of seats in the lower house of parliament. This is the practice in parliamentary democracies all over the world. However, the case of Nepal is a little different and unique. Following the adoption of a federal system, the country has adopted a hybrid type of electoral system, which is a mix of majoritarian or first-past-the-post and a proportio...

Yuba Nath Lamsal:-- It was Friday, May 30, 2025. A shocking news pierced into my ear—Vijaya Chalise breathed the last today. I could not believe the news, as I had met him only a few days before. We talked at length and discussed many subjects, including journalism, literature and society, life, and the world. We reminisced about our old days when we worked together. Vijaya was still energetic, and his body and energy did not indicate any sign that he would leave us so early. After all, truth is truth, whether one believes or not. Vijaya passed away at 73, leaving this mortal world for his permanent abode. I have many fond memories of the old days when we worked together under the roof of Gorkhapatra Corporation. My first acquaintance with him was in 1989 when I joined The Rising Nepal Daily, an English-language publication of the Gorkhapatra Daily. Vijaya had already established himself as a seasoned journalist and an accomplished literary writer. He joined the Gokhapatra as a jou...

Yuba Nath Lamsal:-- Certain events prove to be watershed in history. So is Nepal’s foreign policy. King Prithivi Narayan Shah laid the foundation of modern and unified Nepal and also charted out basic guidelines for Nepal’s foreign policy. His successors, too, gave continuity to territorial expansion and consolidated the unification process until war broke out between the British colonial power and Nepal in 1814. The Sugauli Treaty was signed between Nepal and imperial Britain in 1816, which not only halted the war but also brought Nepal’s territorial expansion to an end. The Sugauli Treaty was not Nepal’s choice but Nepal was forced to accept it. The Sugauli Treaty changed the course of Nepal’s overall strategy and also marked another turning point in Nepal’s foreign policy. The Sugauli Treaty conditioned Nepal’s foreign policy, to some extent. However, Nepal, in practice, sought to exercise independent policy in relations with other external forces. The Kot Parba of 1846, throug...

Yuba Nath Lamsal:- British political scientist Sir Vernon Bernard Bogdanor says, "Monarchy is, in its purest form, a state ruled by a single, absolute hereditary ruler." In contrast, the republic is the supremacy of the people. In a monarchy, the monarch claims to be the supreme authority, the source of the country's sovereignty, and above the law. The hereditary system creates division and inequality in society and the nation. However, the republican system is a form of government in which people are sovereign, and elected representatives possess power and rule the country. In a republican form of government, nobody is above the law, and all citizens are equal in the eyes of the law. This is the fundamental difference between a monarchy and a republic form of government. Democracy is people's rule, and it is only in the republican system that people are sovereign and politically equal. A monarchy is a hereditary system that does not accept people's sovereignty....

Yuba Nath Lamsal:-- A country's foreign policy is shaped and guided by multiple internal and external dynamics. The national interest is the prime factor that influences and determines foreign policy goals and priorities. The national interests, too, are determined by certain factors including geography, economy, demography, cultures, and behaviour of neighbours, values and overall geopolitical dynamics. But geography is the key determinant in shaping national interest and foreign policy priorities. Geography is permanent while other dynamics are changeable depending upon time, context and circumstances. According to Tim Marshall, all countries are prisoners of geography. Marshall, in his famous book, ‘Power of Geography’, says, ‘geography is a key factor shaping what humanity can and cannot do’. Countries are like individuals and the relationship between countries is also like human relations, which are determined by multiple factors. It is said that the border is the starti...

Yuba Nath Lamsal:-- The primary goal and priority of the foreign policy of any country is to protect the national interest. In the realist school of international relations, foreign policy is the strategy, whereas diplomacy is one of the tools a country applies to protect and serve its national interest. Diplomacy is international negotiation, which is the communication system between two or multiple stakeholders that can be both states and non-state actors. The more effective the communication is, the stronger diplomacy becomes, which achieves the foreign policy goal set by the state more efficiently and quickly. Communication is transmitting messages. There are always four components in communication. The first is the message itself and the second is the one that transmits the message. The third is the receiver of the message, while the fourth component is the medium through which messages are transmitted. Communication occurs only when one transmits the message in a correct way...

Yuba Nath Lamsal: -- Nepal’s history is chequered, marked with many ups and downs and also tumultuous events. Several dynasties and clans ruled over Nepal, of which the period of over a century from 1846 to 1951 is known as the ill-famed Rana family oligarchy. Jung Bahadur Rana, backed by his brothers and a few henchmen, orchestrated the ‘Kot Parva’, in which hundreds of courtiers, patricians and officials were killed in the royal court of Kathmandu. It was through the ‘Kot Parva’ that Jung Bahadur Rana captured power, which was the beginning of the Rana family oligarchy that continued to remain a notorious regime for over a century in Nepal until it was overthrown by the popular unrest in 1951. During the Rana regime, only the members of the Rana clan enjoyed power and perks, whereas general people were rendered mere subjects. The Rana period of over a century is known as the darkest period in the history of Nepal. It is said that there is always a ‘silver lining even in the darkes...

Yuba Nath Lamsal:--- The earth is common abode of all human beings and other living creatures. Human beings together with all flora and fauna on earth form bio-diversity, the balance of which is a must for the survival of humanity and other living creatures. The earth and nature feed and nurture the humanity and it is for this reason why we call the earth ‘mother’ or ‘Mother Nature’. The earth and nature have special place on human life and values. Different religious scriptures describe the nature with high reverence. Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism revere mountains as the symbol of sacred nature. The holy Quran states that mountains are like pegs stabilizing factor in the Earth. In Hinduism, the earth is revered as mother, while mountains, rivers and vegetation as the representatives of God. In Hindu philosophy, the entire Himalayas has a special place as sacred abode of deities. In Buddhism, Himalaya has aesthetic and spiritual value. Around 5th century CE ago, a great Sanskrit poet w...

Yuba Nath Lamsal: -- Abstract: Nepal’s geographical position has limited its foreign policy choices right from the emergence as a modern, independent and sovereign state back in the latter half of 18th century. Situated between two asymmetric neighbours, Nepal’s foreign policy has been guided by its quest for survival. As the existing world order seems to be in the cusp of change with steady rise of China, Asia has emerged as the major theatre of international geopolitical rivalry. Big powers and their regional allies as well as other emerging powers are, accordingly, realigning their strategies and foreign policy priorities to suit their interests in the changing global order. As the geopolitical rivalry has shifted to Asian theatre and more particularly in its neighbourhood, Nepal faces even bigger challenge to cope with the new geopolitical push and pull among big powers and more particularly between China and India. In the case of Nepal, the geopolitical rivalry is triangular as, ...