Nepal Pledges to Pursue Policies of Independence
The political developments in
Nepal are interesting and worth
studying.
In the post-Monarchical
period, the Nepal had witnessed
long periods of political instabilities.
In two decades period, no govt.
has lasted beyond 8 or 9 months.
There were many permutations
and combinations in the political
forces. The drafting of Constitution
has proved to be a herculean job.
Now, a coalition of Communist
Party of Nepal-United Marxist-
Leninist and the CP Nepal (Maoist
Centre) is in power in Nepal. These
two parties together carry a two
thirds (174 out of 275 MPs) majority
in the Parliament. So the govt.
claims a political stability for its rule.
It has spelt out its policy positions
on various questions.
The Nepal’s Foreign Minister
Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has said
in an interview published in July 20,
2018 issue of FRONTLINE: “While
protectionism in the US or the
United Kingdom represented the
interest of the multinationals, the
capitalists and a handful of the elite
there, here in Nepal the nationalist
feeling represents the aspirations
of the broad masses of people,
who want to be independent in the
real sense. Independence is not a
word or terminology. We talk about
its real implications. We have every
right to choose our path of
development, to choose our
system of governance and to
choose our foreign policy
independently.”
“In the past, in various cases,
our internal policies became the
bilateral agenda (between Nepal
and India). We are bit embarrassed
when our Prime Minister visited
another country and said that our
August - 2018
constitution would be in this way or
that way; when he expressed his
commitment saying that this time I
was defeated but next time I
promise I would fulfill my
commitment. This is absurd.”
“So not only in discussions
with India and China but elsewhere
too, we want to draw a clear
boundary line stating that internal
matters will never be the issues in
a bilateral discussion. Second, we
have an independent foreign
policy. Sometimes we have seen in
the past that some Prime Ministers
pledged to go in compliance with
your foreign policy in the UN and
in other multilateral fora. That is
totally unacceptable because
Nepal is an independent country.
It has its own priorities and
concerns. India has its own regional
and global aspirations. Similarly
China, too, has aspirations. We
cannot be a part of these
ambitions.”
When asked about Nepal’s
“special” relationship with India, the
Nepal foreign Minister said:
“Sometimes, the word ‘special’ can
have various connotations. So we
refrain from using the word. But it
is unique one … the Eminent
Persons Group (EPG) is working
hard to totally evaluate our
relations …… The 1950 treaty
(Indo-Nepal Treaty on Peace and
Friendship) must be reviewed and
must be replaced by a newer one
that reflects the present-day
situation.”
Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P.Oli
has said in an interview on June
23, 2018 in Beijing: “We are firmly
committed to not allowing our
territory to be used against the
sovereign interests of our
neighbors. We have the resolve to
maintain this and we naturally
expect similar assurances from our
neighbors.”
With regard to relations with
India and China, he said: “We
believe that Nepal can serve as a
bridge between our two neighbors.
In fact we want to move from the
state of landlocked to a land-linked
country through the development
of adequate cross border
connectivity. Our friendship with
both neighbors places us in an
advantageous position to realize
this goal.”
Here these ideas reflect the
feelings and aspirations of Nepal
people. It seems, the Nepal Govt.
has formulated these policies
reviewing the performance of
previous Nepal governments as
well as the experiences it had from
the rulers of other countries like
India who had shown enough of
their exploitative nature and big
brotherly behavior.
We are now in a capitalist
world dominated by imperialism. In
this situation, it is not difficult to
understand how difficult it will be for
a small and weak country like Nepal
to pursue an independent path in
the face of hurdles and attacks from
the imperialists and big corporate
houses. Future alone can tell how
the strong and dependable
democratic economic foundations
are laid, especially in the country
side, for the democracy to sustain
in the political sphere; how the
problems of working class,
peasants and other oppressed
people are addressed and how
their support is mobilized in the
struggle to face the challenges in
the way of translating the
aspirations of independence into a
reality.
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