News, Views From Nepal

Yuba Nath Lamsal Foreign policy is said to be, or in all practicability too, an extension of the domestic policy. The domestic situation, therefore, impacts the diplomacy of any country in the world. The internal imbroglio followed by instability and conflict within the royal court as well as with other small neighbouring principalities of that time had a huge impact on diplomacy and foreign relations during the Lichchhavi period and thereafter.  With the demise of Narendradev, the fame and eminence of Lichchhavi rule in all realms and spheres came to a virtual end, which was, to a great extent, reflected on both the domestic situation as well as foreign relations. Nepal’s internal situation witnessed a kind of tumultuous state for some years to come until Jayasthiti Malla took over the reign.  The interregnum between the Lichchhavi and Malla rule is fuzzy, perhaps, in the absence of authentic historical evidences, which made historians to base their accounts of Nepal...

Yuba Nath Lamsal Nepal is one of the oldest countries in South Asia. Nepal remained an independent country even when almost the whole of South Asia had become a British colony. Nepal and Britain had come face to face in their mission of territorial expansion and fought a war in 1814-16, following which the Sugauli Treaty was signed, formally ending the war. The Sugauli Treaty had two shocking consequences for Nepal. First, Nepal lost almost one-third of its territory, and second, Nepal’s territorial expansion came to an end. Although the Sugauli Treaty is the beginning of Nepal’s modern diplomacy, the tradition of establishing contact with other countries has a long history. We can trace Nepal’s diplomacy as back as 1500 BC, when Nepal’s Kirat kings had relations with several Indian states, including the most powerful Hastinapur. One Kirat King of Nepal, Jitedasti, is believed to have participated in the great Mahabharat war and, according to historian Balchandra Sharma, he helped ...

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...

Yuba Nath Lamsal It is almost certain that the Constituent Assembly will deliver a new constitution. Nepal will get the new constitution written by the elected representatives of the people within a few days. The Constituent Assembly has unanimously adopted a proposal expressing its commitment to promulgate the constitution on September 20. Although their past tract records gives us a little room to trust the political parties and their members in the Constituent Assembly that they would really live up to their promises. However, this time, they are serious and they appear more committed and serious to deliver what they have promised. It is true that the remarks and commitments of the political parties and their leaders have least matched with reality in the past. Many of their commitments concerning the constitution making have been breached. Right from the beginning, the commitments of the political parties and their representatives in the Constituent Assembly have never ...