News, Views From Nepal

Yuba Nath Lamsal Parties missed one more deadline and also failed to live up to their promise made to the people during the election held in November, 2013. All political parties had made their promise public through their election manifestos and public speeches that they would give the country a brand new constitution within one year of the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly. One year passed on January 22, 2015 but the Constituent Assembly did not come up with the new constitution. It is one more cheating and betrayal to the people of Nepal by our political parties and their leaders. With the Constituent Assembly failing to deliver the constitution within one year, political parties have started trading accusations and blames to one another. While the ruling parties—the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML— are trying to hold the opposition parties mainly the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) or UCPN-Maoist for delaying and blocking the constitution writing process, the UCP...

Yuba Nath Lamsal A new cold war that has recently brewed between the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Russian Federation seems to have taken a new turn in the international balance of power. The tough measures adopted by Western countries especially the United States gradually waning and Western countries seem to be softening their stance mainly due to the new geo-political, strategic and economic reality. This comes after the United States partially lifted economic sanctions on Cuba and announced normalization of relations with Havana. At the same time, US stance and policy on Iran, too, seems to be taken a new shift as Washington is seeking support and cooperation of Iran on war against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.  These developments are indicative of the fact that there is no permanent enemy in diplomacy and what is permanent is national interest. With new turns of events emerging in the international arena, the Western countries mainly European states are keen...

Yuba Nath Lamsal After assuming leadership, Chinese President Xi Jinping unveiled a blueprint of his vision for prosperous China and better world order. Known as the Chinese Dream, it is President Xi’s long-term goal of rejuvenating Chinese nation with power to raise the life of its own people and change the world for better. While domestic policy is to raise the living condition of Chinese people, his particular foreign policy focus is to strengthen neighborhood diplomacy. Outlining his vision in the international front, President Xi said, “Good diplomacy with neighboring countries is a requirement for realizing the Two Centenary Goals, and the Chinese Dream of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”. Adding further, President Xi elaborated the policy and priorities of his neighborhood diplomacy saying, “We need to work harder to promote our diplomacy with neighboring countries, strive for a sound regional environment for our development, apply our own development for the bene...

Yuba Nath Lamsal The heads of state and government from across the globe are now gathered at the United Nations headquarters in downtown Manhattan, New York, to debate issues facing the globe at the 69th UN General Assembly. As years pass by, the world sees new challenges and crises, and every year at the UN General Assembly, the world leaders promise to provide a better solution. But, much to the dismay of the people, the UN jamboree concludes with cosmetic rhetoric without any concrete steps to address the problems facing the global community. As a result, the world continues to suffer from multiple challenges. The United Nations General Assembly is, perhaps, the only global forum in which all member states, irrespective of their physical size, economic strength and military might, enjoy equal rights and say. All leaders are given equal time to speak while participating in the debate on several topics. The annual high-level debate, which officially kicked off on Sept...

Yuba Nath Lamsal Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up South and Central Asia trip recently, of which Xi’s India visit was taken with much interest, enthusiasm and caution in Nepal. During Xi’s visit to India, some ground breaking developments took place which will go down as a milestone event in the history of China’s relations with India and also in the entire South Asia. Indian and Chinese politicians and analysts have described Xi’s India visit and agreement reached in New Delhi for mutual cooperation and benefits as a dawn of new era in the history of Sino-India bilateral relations.   During the three day visit to India, China pledged to invest billions of dollars in India’s infrastructure development projects including construction of high-speed railway, industrial parks and upgrading India’s moribund railway system. Apart from this, China and India have agreed for a strategic partnership on issues of mutual interests and benefits. It is now expected that Chin...