News, Views From Nepal

Yuba Nath Lamsal Panicked by China's economic prowess followed by its international clout, India is becoming more worried as South Asian countries are slowly turning to Beijing for strategic and economic cooperation. With the objective of keeping South Asia away from China's sphere of influence, India has been applying dirty tactics that include pressure, threat and even meddling in other's internal affairs. This is India's uncalled for behavior and response which is described as hegemonic and expansionist policy in South Asia.Pained from India's hawkish and hegemonic attitude that calls for squeezing and exploiting the weaker and less powerful countries in the neighbourhood, it is natural for smaller South Asian countries to look to Beijing for some concessions in various fronts and cooperation for their development. Beijing, too, is generous enough when it comes to the relationship with and assistance to its smaller neighbours in South Asia mainly Nepal, Banglades...

Yuba Nath Lamsal The inter-party and intra-party wrangling have hit hard our national politics. One can understand inter-party conflict because of parties' different ideological base, political orientation and economic goals. But the worrisome part is the intra-party wrangling and rivalry which have taken ugly turn recently. Personality cult among the leaders of the same party and factional fighting within parties have fettered and impaired the political and peace process that is underway for the last five years. No political party-big or small, is free from the intra-party bickering. The bigger the party, the stiffer is the rivalry. Given the open and intense rivalry in the parties, it seems that parties have lost their real quality but degenerated into loose alliances of different interest groups. Political parties are formed, run and guided by certain ideology, principle, political commitment and goals. Thus, inter-party differences are natural. But differences on ideology and p...

Kathmandu, June 18: The use of small arms and other portable lethal weapons and casualties after-effects has been reported to be alarmingly high in eastern Tarai districts bordering India. In the last 17 months, the use of small arms and light weapons resulted in 685 incidents in the country. Of the 969 casualties, 250 people lost their lives, according to Informal Service Sector (Insec), a local organisation that has been recording incidents related to the use of small arms and lethal weapons, reports Kantipur online. The use of small arms and other lethal weapons is found to be rampant in Tarai, which shares open border with the Indian states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, from where these weapons are traded across the border, say experts. Tarai alone accounts for more than 50 percent of incidents triggered by the use of portable and small arms. Kathmandu’s case is no satisfactory. Among the development regions, Eastern Development Region accounted for the most number of cases (332) rel...

Kathmandu, June 18: Newly appointed Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Yang Houlan, arrives at Kathmandu today (Saturday) to assume his new diplomatic responsibilities in the Himalayan republic. Ambassador Yang is to present his credentials to President Ram Baran Yadav on June 20. A career diplomat, Yang, has already served in various countries including Korea and Afghanistan. He is a expert in regional security who is well verse with the affairs of Korean peninsula. Yang is the senior-most Chinese official to be posted in Nepal.

Kathmandu, June 18: Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's scheduled Nepal visit was abruptly cancelled at the last minute citing the volatile political situation in Nepal. A source close to the Foreign Ministry said that Mukherjee, who was to arrive at Kathmandu on Saturday for a two-day visit for mutual consultation with the Nepalese officials on peace process, army integration and Nepal-India cooperation, cancelled the trip at the last minute on advice from Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.. Appointments with Nepali dignitaries including President Dr Ram Baran Yadav and Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal had already been arranged for the meeting. The Indian Embassy said that the visit will be rescheduled soon at a mutually convenient date.