Round The World
New
Delhi, 26 April 2011
Krishna’s Nepal Visit
TRYING TO CLOSE TRUST GAP
By Monish Tourangbam
Research Scholar, School of
International Studies (JNU)
The recently
concluded visit of India’s
Foreign Minister SM Krishna to Nepal
came at a crucial time when the extended dateline for completing the
Constitution drafting process by May 28 2011 looms large on the Nepali
political establishment.
The Himalayan Republic is at crossroads. Despite being
a democracy on paper, the country’s polity continues to see changes without any
sense of direction and stability still eludes Nepal. There are intense inter-Party
and intra-Party rivalries regarding issues revolving mainly around power
sharing; down to the basic political quarrels of who gets what.
There is no
uncertainty as yet to the crucial question of integration of the Maoist Army
also called the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Even the eventual election of a
Prime Minister in the form of Jhalanath Khanal,
leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (United
Marxist-Leninist), supported by the Maoist Party has not eased matters, with
the Government not having appointed a Foreign Minister till now.
Add to this the increasing
anti-India rhetoric that refuses to wane despite repeated assurances from
Nepalese leaders. As such, the Indian Foreign Minister was in for a hard time
traversing through the complex lanes of Nepal’s beleaguered politics trying
to put across major Indian concerns. And, at the same time, lending an ear to
some of the concerns that Nepalese leaders have continually expressed against India. Most of
the complaints from Kathmandu revolve around projected fears of interference
from a bigger and powerful neighbour like India.
Continually the Maoist leaders have
accused India of interfering
in Nepal’s internal matters
and of taking sides in the domestic politics of Nepal. This, they say have
negatively impacted the political reconciliation in Nepal. They
have consistently demanded abrogating all past unequal treaties with India,
including the 1950 Peace and Friendship Treaty in order to reflect the changed
circumstances.
But, Indian
diplomatic sources argued that the Maoists are not clear as to what they really
want in place of the old agreements. Hence, when appropriate, the Maoist should
specify their grievances and be clear on what are the provisions they term as
“unequal”. So gauging the prevailing situation, it has indeed been a
tight rope for Indian policy-makers, and keeping these factors in mind, it was
not feasible to expect Foreign Minister Krishna’s to bring a breakthrough.
It could best be described as an
official visit to measure the moods and minds at a crucial period in Nepali
politics; and to make incremental efforts towards closing the trust-gap existing
between the two countries.
The most important thing at this
juncture is for Nepal to come out of the political mess and to create a stable
and sustainable political arrangement lest the aspirations of the Nepali people
from this nascent Republic would be laid to waste, yet again opening up
fissures of ethnic and political clashes which would not be in the interests of
Nepal or the entire region.
As another dateline for drafting the
Nepali Constitution approaches, India
should be transparently supportive of the process but it
is best to let the political parleys take place among the Nepalese Parties
themselves without any interference. It is New Delhi’s
interest that Kathmandu comes up with the new Constitution within the dateline,
and if it does not, India
should not be seen as influencing the outcome in anyway. Anti-India hawks just need
fodder to feed on. Hence, New Delhi needs to
maintain a studied restraint and not give opportunities for India bashing in Nepal.
The anti-India
rhetoric and activities was one of the major areas on which the Foreign
Minister dwelt on during his meetings with Nepalese leaders. Said Krishna, “I conveyed our serious concern on
the attacks on our Ambassador, which is completely contrary to the rich
tradition of hospitality that Nepal
is known for, and requested the Government to provide adequate safety to Indian
diplomats and diplomatic premises in Nepal.”
According to sources, when
Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood recently visited Kailali, Gulmi and some other
districts outside Kathmandu to hand over Indian-aided projects in the fields of
education, health and drinking water, local Maoist cadres waved black flags,
shouted anti-India slogans and tried to disrupt the programmes.
In some places, where various roads
and bridges were constructed under Indian assistance, the Maoists defaced the
Indian national flag. Moreover, ahead of Krishna’s visit, there were reports of
Maoist storming a meeting of Indian infrastructure company GMR, working on a
hydro-power project in Nepal.
As such, Krishna also expressed his
concerns regarding the treatment being meted out to some Indian joint ventures
in Nepal.
He emphasized the fact that the Nepali Government should create favourable and
risk-free environment in order to attract Indian investments, which is in the
interest of Nepal.
Towards the realization of an
investor-friendly environment, he emphasized the need for formalizing the Bilateral Investment Protection
and Promotion Agreement (BIPPA) and the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement
(DTAA) at an early date.
The issue of terrorism and other forms of criminal
activities has been a matter of concern because of the porous border between India and Nepal. Emphasizing the need for effective
boundary management, New Delhi
conveyed to the Nepalese side that it was important to formalize the boundary
strip maps for agreed sectors of India-Nepal boundary covering 98% of the total
boundary, which had been initialled by the Surveyors General of both the sides.
Krishna also expressed concerns regarding the smuggling of
Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) to India
through Nepal.
Raising these concerns, the Foreign Minister emphasized the importance of the
early formalization of the revised Extradition Treaty and the Mutual Legal
Assistance Treaty (MLAT) pending for over six years, and pointed out that these
would enable better coordination and cooperation between the security agencies
of the two countries.
While the Nepalese side gave their assurances to act on India’s
concerns, they conveyed that the revised Extradition treaty and the Mutual
Legal Assistance Treaty were pending. During his stay in Nepal, Krishna also inaugurated the new Chancery Building at the Indian Embassy and laid
two foundation stones, one for the Integrated Check Post (ICP) being built with
Indian Government assistance in Birgunj and another India-assisted project, the
Birgunj-Thori road. These projects, part of a larger cooperative vision are
vital for improving India-Nepal physical connectivity.
But all these
investments and the cooperative ventures that India
has envisioned in Nepal
will not translate into much, without a convergence of interests and closing of
the trust-gap in the political arena. Considering the long Indo-Nepal border,
close cultural and economic ties and the looming shadow of China, New Delhi
cannot let Kathmandu turn into a permanent
political migraine.
Clearly,
developments have spill-over consequences for India and weigh heavily in its
foreign policy calculations. All the ventures that India plans to undertake
with the Nepal Government will translate into new heights only when there is a
meeting of minds among the political establishments. These micro-drivers of the
relationship can better function under a sustained sense of comfort and confidence
that can only come from a better understanding at the macro political level.
---- INFA
(Copyright, India
News and Feature Alliance)
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