One word can’t describe India’s unnecessary concern about Nepali prime minister’s Beijing visit. That’s the combination of hypocrisy, double standard, childishness and hegemony. When their Sonia and Rahul Gandhi can visit China and meet Chinese leaders, why can’t the Nepali prime minister do so?
Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s first foreign trip to China has set off a controversy (and it was created by no other than our southern neighbor India). Obviously, PM Dahal visited Beijing and met Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao before attending the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. And this visit has irritated New Delhi, a section of Indian politicians and the media who still see China through the 1962 Indo-China war. Nepal’s ambassador to India Durgesh Man Singh sought to allay anxieties in Delhi about PM Dahal’s five-day visit to China. He defended the trip by saying that Nepal’s ties with India were different, and that choosing China as the first foreign destination should not have raised anybody’s hackles. The first port of call for a new Nepali prime minister has customarily been Delhi. However, the break with tradition has stunned Delhi hawks as they fear that Chinese influence over Nepal would further corner India.
The reaction in India clearly shows that Indians are still haunted by the ghost of 1962 when China and India fought a bitter border war. PM Dahal visited China to attend the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics as Nepal, being a next-door neighbor, could not skip it. The Indian Congress sent high-profile leaders — Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi — to attend the Olympic inauguration. But PM Dahal’s visit was interpreted in India as a sign of Nepal’s pro-China tilt under the new dispensation that may challenge Delhi’s preeminence in Nepal. The Indians are arguing that India had invited the new prime minister first; but Dahal went off to China without accepting or rejecting the Indian invitation. Now Delhi hawks are concerned about how to deal with the Maoist leader who has termed the 1950 Nepal-India Friendship Treaty “unequal” and wants to revise it to suit Nepali interests.
Differences between these two Asian giants may linger as they follow different political systems. But their differences should not be allowed to undermine Nepali sovereignty. India cannot dictate to Nepal and make it toe the Indian line, nor can this country be turned into an anti-China platform where pro-Tibet Indian activists travel to the Nepal-China border and raise Tibetan issues on Nepali soil. Nepal has its own foreign policy, and it has always remained equidistant from China and India. Nepal shares common cultures and religions with both countries. When Sonia and Rahul Gandhi can visit China and meet Chinese leaders, why can’t the Nepali prime minister do so? Nepal needs both Chinese and Indian support to rebuild its insurgency-ravaged land. And PM Dahal must rebuild it as he was the architect of the decade-long Maoist rebellion that claimed over 14,000 lives and reduced the country’s economy to rubble. It is very disappointing to see such political immaturity in some Indian leaders and diplomats.
India ready to review 1950 treaty
NEW DELHI, Aug 29 – The Indian government has said it is ready to review all treaties and agreements including the Indo-Nepal Peace and Friendship Treaty -1950. During bilateral talks with visiting Minister for Foreign Affairs Upendra Yadav in New Delhi on Thursday, Indian Minister for External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee requested Yadav not to be “skeptical” of the Indian government on the issue of review of past treaties and agreements. (more)
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Comments
42 responses to “No Need for Panic, India”
what exactly is the india’s problem, is it the first visit being china or asking for help with china to bring communism in nepal.
there is no chinese administration we have a lot in common. tian ming square.
shooting dalits
open the mass graves
i miss 100 000 euro for a human rights movie festival and somebody likes donald duck.
This is lord hanuman and shivas country all pretend to be what they are not. The married are free and so on. culture of hi 5.
vizualize free bears in pakistan. benazir did not go to China i wonder why
For future games it is best in general to have a royal clown, or some heroe or something like an ambassador. The real president and prime minister should be busy for nonsense, let their wives go
My name is United State of America. I own a small dog called UK. I love UK very much because UK barks every time I gave an order. UK is a lovely little dog.
UK is now in IRAQ. I understand MEGA GENOCIDE is committed in IRAQ by the ugly terrorists disguised as children and women. UK is doing its best to save people’s life in IRAQ.
I make an appeal to boycott the London 2012 Olympic Games because money will be wasted just for some medals. The money can be more judiciously used by UK for its glorious mission to save more life in IRAQ.
In the name of DEMOCRACY BOYCOTT LONDON 2012 to prevent MEGA GENOCIDE in Iraq. Thank you for your co-operation. God Bless Prince Charles the next Queen of UK.
good idea, latin america boycots english language. we have our personal dolllar and mercosur.
we do not hate muslims, black people.
but we do not use the hamburger either.
white anglosaxon protestant
conflicts should not be fought over ethnic, we have chinese christians, white muslims and better western buddhists.
There is specific gene found only among the Indian people that is only found in the Barking Dogs. Dat’s y they talk much do less, but always make sure neighbors around never succeced.
It is sad to note that an upright and sincere journalist like Yubaraj Ghimire is indulging in absolute falsehoods and a smear campaign against the new government of Nepal that has come to power through a popular vote.
In his attacking piece (The Bogs and Pitfalls of Democracy in South Asia Intelligence Review, issue: August 25, 2008). on the new Nepalese Prime Minister Pushp Kamal Dahal ‘Prachand’, Yubaraj Ghimire has described the Maoist leader’s ascend to the post of the Prime Minister of the infant Himalayan Republic as “power grabbing”. In the absence of a concrete evidence to show Prachand in poor light, he uses the tools of a biased political campaigner rather than presenting his argument as an objective and honest journalist that he has been.
How can Ghimire describe Prachanda’s becoming the prime minister as “power grabbing”? When the Maoists were fighting a bloody war, many pro-monarchy writers like Ghimire accused them of being anti-democratic because they were fighting with guns. Many of these commentators went to the extend of saying that the Maoists had a tacit understanding with the then king Gyandendra because both of them were conspiring to isolate the “democratic forces” i.e. the Nepalese Congress and the CPN-UML.
The Maoists leaders, using their political acumen, came to the negotiating table and showed utmost flexibility in offering to cease the hostilities under the supervision of the United Nations. They did it at the height of their war when more than eighty per cent areas of Nepal had come under their parallel administration. With the overwhelming support of hundreds of thousands of people who turned up in Kathmandu demanding the abolition of monarchy, the Maoists forced the NC and UML to form a joint front against the discredited king.
It was this tremendous public pressure that forced the NC and UML party to join the struggle with the Maoists. If Nepal is a Republic today, it is not thanks to ever-compromising leaders like Madhav Kumar Nepal or Girija Prasad Koirala. It is primarily a success of the political line followed by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).
Now the people of Nepal have proved that they did not support the Maoists because they were scared of the bullet. Even in the battle for ballot the Maoists got the support of the majority of the Nepalese people. The people have rejected the corrupt politicians of the Nepalese Congress and the UML, still Yubaraj Ghimire prefers to live in his make-believe, pro-monarchy and pro-NC world, refusing to acknowledge the basic foundation of a democratic process.
The Maoists have time and again said that they believe in multi-party democracy and they have shown the political flexibility throughout the peace talks and beyond.
Ghimire’s description of Prachanda as power grabber shows his disrespect towards democratic institutions. It amounts to defending the corrupt leaders of the Nepalese Congress and other parties who believe in status quo. It is like parroting the US rhetoric about the Hamas movement. To the US it will always remain a terrorist movement, so what if they have won a popular, free and fair election? So what if the people of Palestine consider them as their leaders who can fight against the might of Israel and the US?
In the same undemocratic fashion Ghimire’s article declares: So what if the Maoists have won the election? Since we don’t approve of their politics, they don’t pass the test of democracy.
If the Maoists play by the rules of democracy, Ghimire gleefully declares that they are sinking in the quagmire of democracy! When the Nepalese Congress and other pro-monarchy parties kept worshipping a rogue king and his cronies, does Ghimire think they were actually writing a glorious new chapter in the book of democracy?
Common Ghimire! Remember your past. Remember those days when you were still an upright, objective and honest journalist.
In Nepal, eveyone have become writer and journalists therefore i am not surprise that Yubaraj Ghimire wrote this.
I think Yubaraj Ghimire is pro-indian…, pro-monarchy. I don’t think its nepalese journalists responsibility to criticize current government. They just want to encourage every nepalese to act against current government.
I’ve got suggestion for Yubaraj – why don’t you step down from Journalism, coz you are out of date for this generation, there are so many people who has better ideas then you.
UWB
why don’t you write something about ‘Koshi and Karnali’ wall which has been killing so many people in Nepal. why should nepal put the wall in Koshi and Karnali..? Nepal isn’t generating Hydrolic power, or nepal isn’t generating any electricity of it….so why there are still 24 embankment?
Isn’t this the time we say enough is enough and try to think about our own people? thousands of indians people coming to nepal for shelter…. I thought, India is rising and its people are educated and rich so how come they end up like hopeless…?
new primeminister should n’t bow his head to the indain govt.
sarang ji is absolutely right. i had gone through that post of south asian intelligence review.yubaraj ghimire is doing “YELLOW JOURNALISM”.without any concrete evidence he tries to proof the unsolved mathematical equation.ghimire ji.donot jolt the equation.and donot try to misquote the issue of plebiscite of jammu and kashmir.
Blaming is good the people are like in New Orleans forgotten by indifference
it looks like prachanda opportunist bahun do not have any idea about other parts of life, nation………… it looks like to me is all prachanda and do is insult, threat, blackmail in bhasans . whn e its time to give speech in other subject, he got nothing…….. ……………… ………………………… maoist keep on saying old politics, old ecomomy…….. why dont they be specific, …………… they always use those words which could have any meaning……….. ………………….. ……….. dumb people understand only what dumb says……… may be that is why maoist have only dumb supporters…. ………………………………………. …………….
prachanda blackmailed to get into power ………….. now he seems to black mail to get donations ffrom foreign countries. ………….. he is embarrassment to the country ………………………. …………………. ………
why are there so many bahun mantris from maoist just like it used to happen…………. ……………. ……………
what is so differnet from the past……………… …….. why are there so many ministries………….. are they trying to loot nepal……….. …….. it looks as if ministries is the prize ………………………. .
nobody should go to china
It has to be seen that whether Janajati will get fear deal in government and political post or not in the maoist rule, although it has cried a lot about the right of different janajati. The chhetri who hold about 19% of the total population is not getting any ministerial post which is not fear. They should also be included in Janajati in this present scenario.
If the world bank donated so much money for health and infrastructure who supervises this goes to the districts and areas that most need it?
Now they have to travel via India there is no road from east to Kathmandu.
Its good the treaty is finally being reviewed but do we know what we exactly want in its place, and what will be the implications if they are changed? Just crying foul for political mileage is no good. I hope our leaders know what they are bargaining for and come out with a better deal instead of just crying victim …
And its time Nepal balance the India-China thing, I am proud of PM’s visit to China. India with its 1960 China syndrome can go to hell.
Atleast Upendra Yadav made guts to raise the voice against the Koshi treaty in Indian soil…where are congress leaders and specially civil society gone ? Only madhesi people are being affected by the wrong treaty so they should start to raise the voice against it….this will disect who are getting advantages by doing wrong treaties…definately the past leaders like Koiral family…
Reviewing of the 1950 Treaty? In the first place, no one has explained what is wrong with that treaty. If there is anything wrong, they haven’t explained what they will propose instead. And, of course, no one has any idea how the proposed changes will benefit Nepal and her people.
Jumping like a monkey and barking that the treaty is unfair will not help. Have our politicians done any homework? That is doubtful with so much of brainstorming about power sharing and seat adjustment. In any case, they need New Delhi if they have to save their skin at times of trouble.
The moral of the story is: If the treaty will be revised, it will be for worse, not better.
the pm visited china to weave a conspiracy web against inida….. now, digg this you indians….
mind your own business india, we go wherever we want, we do whatever we want…..
Nepal is a sovereign country. The president wanted to go to China but India stopped him. Prime Minister dared to go to China. By doing so he did the right thing.
Indians were British slaves and after their freedom from British slavery, they want to be become masters. India is acting like a Jamindar in out Terai, where I come from.
Terai people are more in trouble due to India than any pahade, so all Terai should unite againts Koshi and other embankments on the border. All Nepali side will be inundated next year, if we do not start thinking today.
More the power distribution to all ethnic groups exist, more the unity comes and country will be in strong shape. If certain caste enjoy the powers, definately the division starts. First, the ruling leaders should make guts to distribute the power to all ethnic groups before talking sovereignity, slavery, Indian domination bla..bla..bla..
The leaders should not surrender everything to India for the power and vested interest. The madhesi people don’t know why the rivers are being surrendered to India although they have their first right to use it. They are also not involved in these cases. But, some crook leaders took the advantage with these historical mistake treaties.
I am a Indian, and are our people and government never feel India is better than Nepal or have control of a country etc etc. so we dont have the right to tell other countries heads what to do.But Nepal being so close to China and India. In terms of security India will be concerned. Ofcourse they should trade and improve its economy relations with China. Even India is.
India and Nepal have had very close relations and we know each other very well. Because India has a bigger population and is a larger country obviously India would have more influence over Nepal that Nepal over India. same could happen with china too.. maybe worse…if it were the same..
India and Nepal might fight with each other from time to time.
But India is and always will be good friends with Nepal..
Because India and Nepal have close reations we know each other very well. We share some good times and some bad. So it might fell that the grass is greener on the other side. And some might feel India have done a lot of bad things to Nepal. What ever it is
India will always be on your side….
U r wrong Mr.Da Guru.
I don’t like Inda & Nepal be a fren.
I am Gorkha.I thinked u well know about the Gorkhas.
So before puts Nepal in your topic ,pls mind it .
Nepal don’t want to be closed to India,China is good fren for Nepal, because always thinks better for Nepal
But India Fu*** it, why u know always makes down to Nepal & never let Nepal be in part of development.
Everywhere place of Nepal,Indian people were creating problem in Boarder side .
India alway thinks Nepal should be in his hand, thats never be .
india should be happy from the Gorkahs coz, The Gorkhas save the India with pakistan.
Gorkhas Fights for the India.
But don’t let Gorkhas fight against India in future,might be also, because ……………….there are alots of obastacles that India making on .
Stop rice bag converts…. Stop barking… You are not Nepali or indian..just ricebag convertor… Of Christianity
India – Nepal are spiritually connected… What these politicians …done… Are not responsible….
I love nepal only thing is my Lord pasupathinath… And way to kailash in Tibet…. That’s… All….
to some extent you may be right Da Guru, but one thing pinched me more than anything else, you said “Because India has a bigger population and is a larger country obviously India would have more influence over Nepal that Nepal over India. same could happen with china too.. maybe worse…if it were the same..”, why do you doubt in china’s influence over us? why not a better one instead of a worse influence?
world banks poverty statistics vary India went up or down see outlook india today one delhi professor.
By all means world bank and all of those have to acknowledge survival problems in democratic Nepal. It is like buddhist practice so much talking about theory and no time to practice it is all about love.
?
When we see India as our family why they would not share with us? And why we have to shout indians are cruel? Chinese eat dogs? This is a bad business trick.
Poverty is terrible in Nepal. Look at common points. Debating is useless since we are all right but not alright.
Hey Nepali Patriots…. U guys must open ur arm for Chinese friendship but before that please read this article about the china treatment to ur new prime minister.
http://www.sindhtoday.net/south-asia/15909.htm
the Navh has a blog and doesn’t let us comment on them, what’s the use of posting the url here Navh???
one thing to keep in mind that india does not care a heck lot for nepal. it is more besetted with problems in its own country, like the recent spate of suicide bombings, kashmir, pakistan, and other secessionist movements happening in india. for indians, nepal is the least of their worries, and we nepalis should stop ranting as if india care about nepal and nepalis. indians do not care much for nepal, and nepal should one day realize, that while india may survive without nepal, nepal cannot survive without india. this is geopolitics and our country is the unfortunate victim of it. so in other words, anti-indian sentiments presently going on is completely pointless and useless.
I find the level of anti-India rhetoric coming from Nepal these days as quite fascinating and also quite annoying. I think as an Indian it is easy to understand how the Americans feel when their allies around the world continuously gripe about America and its policies.
All this crap about “unequal” and “discriminatory” policies of India are laughable when considering the fact that more than 4-5 million Nepalis work and enjoy all the benefits of an Indian citizen. They even have reservation in many universities in Delhi and other places where many Indian students dont have the opportunity to study. Not to mention the thousands of millions spent over the years on projects in Nepal that help both countries. Add to this the fact that so many of these anti-india critics have either studied in India or their parents have businesses and property in India, I find their arguments ridiculous and naive.
So what if some of your sovereign rights are overseen by India ? And So what if India does indeed interfere and guide Nepali foreign policy. Could you really say you would do better by yourselves ? The Chinese and Indian governments would have made Nepal another Sri Lanka with an endless civil war raging and thousands dead. At least with India you are dealing with people who share a common culture. Where as with China, your futures would be akin to their other vassal state – North Korea!
You have to understand that in the larger scheme of things India views China with as much suspicion as after 1962 because even to this day they openly support India’s enemies and whether you want to or not, Nepal would be dragged between the two even if nepal tied to be independent. It would be better to side with those you understand and profit that some alien culture which doesnt understand you. Even if it costs you some sovereign rights. Its either be used or abused. .
Prachanda’s visit to China before he actually visited India does signals a change in the foreign policy of Nepal. Politics is not as straightforward as we all would like to see. We have to look at our geopolitical reality before we change a course.
Prachanda might put forward the lame logics like
“the visit to china wasnt a political one” and that his “first official visit would be to India”. But the actions of the prominent leaders keep a lot of weight and meaning and the parties with stakes will understand it for both obvious and hidden meanings. Before changing a course in a foreign policy a lot has to be taken into consideration which I hope Prachanda has done.
The obvious fact is that the geopolitical reality of Nepal makes us more dependent on India then on China and thus more politically tilted towards India. But the past experiences have shown that the political leaders of our country have been more biased towards India, perhaps more than needed. When the need was to keep the Indians at balance, our leaders treated them like the political masters.
Prachanda might have started a different foreign policy course altogether but he might be heading in a right direction as well. The Indian politician’s reactions towards Prachanda’s visit to China have shown the concerns about the would be change in the Nepalese foreign policy.
However certain expressions from the Indian side like willingness to revise treaty of 1951shows that the negative pressure sometimes may work as well.
Need now is for Prachanda to carefully plan his foreign policy and bargain for a betterment of Nepal without alienating the Indians. We must understand that in this age physical occupation or annexation of any state like Sikkim is virtually impossible. At the most, the Indians will look for security of their interests mostly security from the north and security of its trade. We must find a way through to get the best possible benefit for Nepal.
please read 1950 for 1951
i would also like to point out reversing the treaty would not be beneficial to Nepalis. we should make the choice of being benefited through india’s economic growth, or have the risk of millions of Nepalis who live, work and study in India have their rights and benefits taken away.
we have to realize that India, whatever its views may be of Nepal, has been giving preferential treatment to Nepalis by the quota system in its universities and in jobs. we are one of the few countries in South Asia that receive this right. We do not need visas to go there, nor do we need burdensome paperwork to acquire property or to have jobs (perhaps in the governmental sector, but otherwise in other sectors no). in other words, Nepalis have the right to live as a permanent resident of India without burdensome paperwork, and in the process send money to their relatives in Nepal. the point should be taken that in Nepal, there are millions of Nepalis who depend on those who choose to go outside Nepal to support their loved ones.
for the many Nepalis who dream of good opportunities, going to India without a visa and much paperwork is a benefit. It would be a much better idea to focus on the institutional and civil flexibility Nepal should start to offer to its own citizens. if we do not want Nepalis who keep leaving Nepal for India or other countries, then we should start looking at improving and growing our infrastructure in education, bureaucracy and civil society.
if we start to reverse the treaty, in the end, it is Nepal that going to get hurt, not India.
Hi i m from india
I have got only one thing to say about communists, just look at the india states which are run by them.
1- WB, one of the most poorer of indian state barring the fact that it is most intellectual.
2- Kerala, the most literate state in india, but what its biggest export, jobless educated youths all around the world.
The power of communist is in working classes, so they can’t afford and never will allow those ppls to get out this “poor man” tag.
ideolgies suck better just dream but somebody needs to work then only fight intellecutualzi
urself sound nice to be injun
amazing stuff thanx 🙂
“We should have accepted the accession of Nepal to India when it was offered to us by King Tribhuvan,”
http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/01/01/stories/01010005.htm
What sovereignty are we all talking about. Sovereignty that suits to our politicians. Well everyone saw positive role of India when King was outsted not that I support king. India as a powerful nation in South Asia will have it say whether we like it or not. We have to live with it and cope and manage.
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