Why the hell India should help Nepal. Let them do it on its own if they have their capability. GoI should sternly let GoN know that they need to ask people if they want an Indian company to work in nepal or not.muraliravi wrote:http://dailypioneer.com/332325/GMR-proj ... Nepal.html
===harbans wrote:First Indiadoes not carry out assassinations. And i think thats the right thing.
and certainly not under the slow-speaking, weak prime-minister MMS-led Govt. Only CIA/Mossad/MI6 is capable of such daring. Therefore, we are pacifist SDREs who spend our intelligence budgets preparing for Magsaysay awards.IIRC, we seem to have made a deal to give a free run to our intel agencies in Nepal to hunt Pakis stationed there, if THE WEEK article on snatch ops by IB in Nepal was to be believed.If there was a "stronger" GoI, they'd have stopped Nepal's Hukka-Pani and browbeaten them until they stopped issuing visas to Pakis or at least started issuing stapled visas.
Sorry to shoot off using your statement, but this thread occasionally borders on the incredibly unbelievable in terms of yakkitak without mucho understanding. how realistic is what you want in terms of country to country relations? can the US prevent a cuba-mexico rapproachement and if so, has it? can china prevent a rapproachement between mongolia and taiwan and if so, has it? sometimes we injuns are pretty bad at throwing ourselves low down the totem-pole.sum wrote: though i still wonder as to why we didn't get Nepal to stop treating Pakis with kid-gloves which is the easier option
Stan-ji,quite a few people wanted in India have been caught in nepal including (just from the top of my head) niranjan hojai, anthony shimray, the three chini spies who are now in jail, criminals who have committed various domestic crimes in India and ran off,
Clicksum wrote: Which 3 Chini spies are you mentioning about?
On January 17, Chinese-trio of Liao Xing, Yu Dangli and a woman among them Yang Liu were apprehended by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) near Rupaidiha check post in Baharaich, nearly 180 km from here.
Every year, India provides financial aid worth `200 crore to implement development projects in Nepal but the Maoists have constantly rebuffed our efforts. This has to stop. As members of the ruling coalition, the Maoists cannot continue to behave like a band of rebels. Hopefully, Minister for Foreign Affairs SM Krishna’s upcoming three-day visit to Nepal will help mitigate the growing anti-India sentiment.
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/a ... 710037.eceNew Delhi has also encouraged Madhesi parties to stay out of government and instead be a strong opposition along with the NC.
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There is suspicion in Kathmandu that India would not like the Constituent Assembly extended — something Madhesi leaders publicly said after a recent visit to India.
The Maoists represent the most important and complex political movement of our time. To have a simplistic black and white view about them is just foolish. This column has criticised Maoist high-handedness and violence; held it solely responsible when CA polls were postponed in November 2007; cautioned the Maoists while in government not to be adventurous, be it on the China front or the army; blasted Baidya and company for their absurd positions; repeatedly highlighted Dahal’s weakness as a leader in not taking the bold, irreversible steps that would allay suspicions on the other side; and exposed Maoist hypocrisy on India.
But I do believe that the entry of the Maoists into the political structure has deepened Nepali democracy. The party has mobilised social groups that otherwise had little voice. It must be credited for the agenda of the republic, CA and inclusion. The 2006 People’s Movement would
have been impossible without them, and democrats who pretend to have done them a great favour forget that their own movement was confined to the vicinity of Ratna Park before the participation of the rebels.
While the Maoist model of the state is unacceptable, their presence offers us a chance to debate how to go beyond merely formalistic liberal democracy, which as we saw in the 1990s is a necessary but not sufficient system to address popular aspirations in this deeply unequal society. The last anti-Maoist coalition, conceived essentially by forces outside parliament, was a deep subversion of democratic norms – as is clear now, isolating the Maoists was neither sustainable nor intelligent as it only strengthened the dogmatists within.
But as the Maoists get ‘mainstreamed’, their degeneration has been rapid. The Maoist party is replicating the political culture and corrupt practices of the other parties, and it is slowly becoming disconnected from the changing aspirations of the new generation. The onus now is on them not to let their internal contradictions hold the country hostage, and to implement their commitments under the CPA.
Once completed, extension of the Lhasa-Xigaze railway to Kathmandu will exponentially expand China’s influence. It will facilitate transportation of huge volumes of goods and supplies to Nepal, thereby bringing Nepal closer to dependence on China. India’s special trade and transit treaty with Nepal will additionally permit Chinese goods to flow into India on extremely concessional terms. New Delhi needs to warn Kathmandu that its relationship with China is now unacceptably poised to cross the ‘red line’.
Elsewhere, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110416/j ... 860990.jspBangladesh will earn about $50 million annually during the first five years of transit after infrastructure is created along corridors, according to a study. Once capital works are completed, the country will earn more than half a billion dollars annually from the sixth year onwards, the study predicted. At one point in time, the benefit will reach $1 billion a year, it said. Despite uncertainties, Bangladesh's benefit will be robust, said the study report. "This stream of benefits, albeit partial, would more than justify investment amounts."
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A member of the committee said, as Bangladesh will not be able to make the full transit facility effective at the initial stage, its benefits will be less. However, when the improvement of the infrastructures is complete, the benefit will increase, he added.
Nihar Nayak's take, nothing new here though: http://idsa.in/idsacomments/TimetoReass ... yak_190411Khanal does not want to follow in the footsteps of Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal or Prachanda who went to Beijing on his first trip overseas after taking the top job in 2008. In doing so, he broke an unwritten tradition that has seen most Nepali Prime Ministers before him make New Delhi their first destination.
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Sources said Khanal hoped to request New Delhi to convince Madhesi parties and the Nepali Congress, both seen as pro-India, to agree to the extension. But New Delhi believes the source of Khanal’s problems is Prachanda, his anti-India propaganda and his desire to win a fresh election that would allow him to change the Constitution and make Nepal a totalitarian regime.
And then: http://www.ekantipur.com/2011/04/17/edi ... 32648.htmlDespite the political uncertainties in Nepal, Indo-Nepal relations have not been at a stand-still. Numerous high-level visits have taken place in the last one year or more. Mr. Krishna himself visited Nepal (his first) in mid-January 2010, during which he had met a wide range of political leaders and discussed the future of the peace process in Nepal as well as various issues of bilateral concern like Civil Aviation, Trade Treaty, Joint Committee on Water Resources at the Secretary level, etc. During this earlier visit, he had laid particular emphasis on the need for regular high level bilateral interactions to strengthen India-Nepal relationship.
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India remains Nepal’s largest trade partner, the largest source of foreign direct investment and tourist arrivals. There has been a sharp increase in bilateral trade in recent years. India continues to support developmental activities in Nepal at the grass-roots level. So far, over 400 projects have either been completed or are under various stages of implementation in Nepal. India also considers it important to develop human resources in Nepal. It provides scholarships for Nepalese students to pursue their education either in India or in Nepal; in 2010, some 1800 Nepalese students were given scholarships.
And this might interest Paul and force him to make a short postMany may not know that the US is Nepal’s second largest export partner. It is one of a few trading partners with which Nepal has trade surplus. According to statistics of the US Census Bureau, Nepal exported goods worth $60.51 million to the US against the import of $28 million in 2010.
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A new chapter began in the Nepal-United States trade relationship on Friday with the signing of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA). After a long homework, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari and United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk signed the agreement in Washington DC, thus opening the possibility of preferential entry of Nepali products to the United States, the world’s largest market. The agreement has provided institutional framework for bilateral talks to enhance trade and investment, discuss trade issues and promote more comprehensive trade agreement between the two countries. TIFA will replace the Bilateral Economic and Trade Agreement between Nepal and the US reached in 1947. Nepal is the fourth South Asian country to enter into TIFA with the United States. The US has so far signed the TIFA with 42 countries, including South Asian—Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
According to Pandey, the US’ interest is in the service sector, while Nepal’s is in goods. “If the TIFA content has stringent provision on Intellectual Property Right (IPR) than that of WTO, it will harm Nepal,” said Pandey. Nepal recently applied for the Generalised System of Preference (GSP) facility for 11 readymade garment items and a pashmina item. The US reviews the GSP facility that provides duty-free entry for up to 4,800 products from 129 countries every ten years. “If we get the GSP facility, our garments would be 17 percent cheaper in the US market,” said Pandey. For Nepali readymade garments, the US used to be the largest market with the export touching Rs 10 billion mark in 2000. After reaching $171.39 million mark in 2003, Nepal’s export to the US is on a continuous decline, plummeting to 60.51 million in 2010. This fall is mainly attributed to the readymade garments and pashmina that could not compete with other countries’ products.
: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/MC31Df02.html
Shah’s book has also considerably diluted, if not completely eliminated, a widely-held perception that Gyanendra had a hand in the palace shootout. People across the country in Hindu-majority Nepal held a deep-rooted suspicion that Gyanendra wanted to be king, and that this prompted him to hatch a conspiracy to kill his brother. Despite a lack of evidence, suspicion was also widespread among foreign commentators that Gyanendra "had mass-murdered his way to the throne like Shakespeare’s Richard III", as wrote Francis G Hutchins, Birendra’s tutor in Harvard in 1967, in a book published in 2007. Since Gyanendra was the immediate beneficiary of his brother's death, all of the statements and interviews he gave afterward failed to convince the doubting public.
Now, by disclosing some incidents and confirming speculative stories about the reckless behavior of the then crown prince, Dipendra, Shah’s book gives credence to the official storyline - that the son killed his parents because they refused to let him marry the girl he loved. His grandmother had one choice for Nepal's future queen, the mother had another and neither made Dipendra happy. While the father was indifferent and indecisive, the mother was threatening that unless Dipendra married the girl she had chosen, he would lose his right to succeed his father as the king. This made Dipendra, a drug addict, desperate. According to Shah’s account, based on information from several sources, Dipendra was being manipulated by external elements inimical to king Birendra’s aims to protect the national interests of Nepal, a country sandwiched between India and China. Dipendra was incited to kill his parents, but how he fell to fatal gunshot wounds is still a mystery. The suicide theory does not tally with his declared desire to marry the girl and eventually become the king of Nepal.
Shah’s book contains passages saying how and when the Maoists of Nepal were trained at Chakrata near the northern Indian town of Dehradun. Recent WikiLeaks disclosures through The Hindu, an Indian newspaper, have already seen evidence substantiating some of the Shah’s remarks. That New Delhi played the role of interlocutor for the Maoists and their non-communist allies to form an alliance against the monarchy through a 12-point agreement, in 2005, is an open secret. Pranab Mukherji, India’s external affairs minister at that time, admitted that Maoists were assisted in their bid to enter Nepal’s political mainstream and rise to power. That the situation took a u-turn later when Maoists began to ignore their benefactor, is a different story.
Another point related to the palace massacre was Shah’s own role during the crisis. What were he and his security apparatus doing when the king, queen and other members of the royal family at the dining hall of Narayanhity Palace were being shot dead one by one? Whom can Shah blame when the four-layer security system surrounding the palace premises was breached? Through several chapters and paragraphs, Shah explains that the hall where the royals had gathered for a private dinner was not accessible to security personnel. Nobody could have checked the crown prince for carrying weapons. Security cordons alone cannot offer foolproof security to anyone, says Shah, citing assassinations such as the former US president John F Kennedy and former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Nepali maoists were trained at SFF bases?Shah’s book contains passages saying how and when the Maoists of Nepal were trained at Chakrata near the northern Indian town of Dehradun.
http://southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cnotes7%5Cnote622.htmlIt is time other main stream parties put their house in order to meet the new challenge now posed by the Maoists. In the Nepali Congress, the Deuba faction does not appear to have reconciled to its merger with the parent unit. The UML is a divided house with the Madhav Nepal- Oli faction openly defying the party chairman and the Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal. The Madhesis are getting split into many factions and their influence is waning.
In other words, as should have been predicted by anyone with some knowledge, the May 28 deadline will not be met and will be extended. The question is what next after that, nothing is a good answer.There is now a growing voice for the extension of the Constituent Assembly tenure. What is the official Nepali Congress stand on this?
If the Maoists are reasonable I still believe we can complete both the peace and constitution processes by May 28. But they have been raising unnecessary obstacles. For instance, they want us to compromise on a democratic constitution. Nepali Congress can never do that. We cannot compromise on the fundamentals of democracy.
Newly appointed State Minister for Finance Laharkyal Lama, who was dragged into controversy following media reports about his possession of multiple citizenship, stepped down from the ministerial post on Thursday. Earlier, media reports had alleged that Lama was holding the citizenships of Nepal and India and was actively involved in the ‘Free Tibet Movement’.
To describe what is going on, it is a game between GoI and the maoists with neither side giving away a bit on their future stakes. This is the main thing, the rest are all symptoms of this play-act. To bring this play-act to an end, with the GoI standing out, there is just one way: to make the maoists irrelevant. I can think of many ways: engineer a split in the maoists is the most civil version. With the ideological divisions in the maoist front, this is a real possibility. The splinter group under MBK will end up being more violent than the cabal now, but that is a short-term price to pay. The other thing to do is to hit the Nepali media very badly in a shock and awe strategy that explicitly describes how two can play propaganda. Once the split is engineered, if elections are called, it will be fun to watch the jackals bite themselves. Not like they aint doing it now, but they will do it with more venom and toxin than now.To allay overall security concerns, Krishna has asked Nepal to sign the revised Extradition Treaty and Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, which have been gathering dust for five years, as well as finalise the new boundary map that would help manage the 1880km open border between Nepal and India. To ensure the protection of Indian investment in Nepal, India wants the formalisation of the Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement and a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement.
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While Sood has been dogged by Maoist cadres showing him the black flag and on one occasion, under the leadership of a former Maoist minister, throwing shoes at his car, Indian joint ventures in Nepal have been facing strikes, labour trouble and violent attacks, also led by the former guerrillas. Ahead of Krishna's arrival, protesters smashed a projector and microphone belonging to the GMR Group, whose winning the contract to develop the 300 MW Upper Karnali hydropower project has been under constant attack by the Maoists.
Ruling coalition partners Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) and Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) on May 2 agreed to extend Constituent Assembly (CA)’s term that expires on May 28 after forging consensus with other political parties, reports Nepal News. The meeting between the two parties took a decision to this effect. The meeting also decided to hold discussions with opposition parties including Nepali Congress to bring out early budget and take them into confidence on the matter. Emerging from the meeting, UCPN-M vice-chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha said, "The meeting concluded that there is no alternative left but to extend Constituent Assembly’s term. But the duration will be fixed after consultations with other political parties.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal said the constitution drafting process can move ahead smoothly only after the peace process is taken to a logical conclusion. Stating that the coalition partner UCPN-M's role is crucial to ensure successful conclusion of the peace process, he said without the active participation and involvement of the Maoist party that task is next to impossible. Khanal praised the crucial decisions taken by the Maoists in favor the ongoing processes of constitution drafting and peace and described them as vital to successfully concluded the peace process.
I just read what people write, I have nt interacted with anyone close enough to ask this. To be fair, I still think I dont know what I am talking about. Yet...Hari Seldon wrote: Stan, any possibility that some combination of Nepali polity factions will want a merger with india with some constitutional protection guarantees (like Art 371 for Sikkim)? Just asking, quite unlikely, I know.
. But I must admit that I get to see some of the smart-grid bullshit from the shoulder of a giant, so I get to see a little more than the noise that floats around with the Al Gore shenanigans. 
Power situation is very bad with 10 hr powercuts per dayYeshi Wangdi, director-general of Bhutan’s department of energy, said hydropower now generates more than 50 % of the government’s gross revenue, through sales to India. “The government feels the urgency to develop hydropower schemes in an accelerated manner, before the waters become dry,” he said. “We expect that to happen in 50 to 60 years. So before that, if we can have all these projects, at least they will have earned all the returns.”
Sonam Yanglay, Bhutan’s Director-General of Mines and Geology, said his teams working in the mountains are seeing some glaciers retreat as much as 100 feet a year. “That receding rate is really, really high,” he said. “At this rate, we recognize that if climate change is not contained at a certain point, countries like ours, where the economy is dependent on hydropower, are going to be very, very badly affected.”
As factions of vice chairmen Mohan Baidya Kiran and Baburam Bhattarai are learnt to be preparing to come up with a separate proposal to counter party chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s proposal for power-sharing within the party, the meeting was put off to give more time to efforts aimed to work out joint proposal of the party. General secretary Ram Bahadur Thapa, who was earlier known as a Dahal supporter and military chief during the insurgency of People's War days, also switched side by attending a secret meeting of Baidya-Bhattarai factions in Lalitpur yesterday. Like Baidya and Bhattarai, Thapa, too, has expressed discontent with the way Dahal has handled party affairs and wants him to divide party responsibilities among the leaders.
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If Dahal loses the end-game, the peace and constitution process, already deadlocked for several weeks, will face a signal shift. The steady erosion of his control over the party and reputation as a “master of double-speak” began with his decision to remove the then Army Chief Rukmangad Katwal in 2008. Dahal has few options. He could still play the General Convention card ostensibly to elect a new party leadership, or, he could try persuading Bhattarai, who like him, favours peace and constitution, by offering to make him the next prime minister. Dahal backer politburo member Hemant Prakash Oli feels despite odds Dahal will scrape through. Even outsiders are betting on Dahal’s political nine lives. Left-leaning analyst Shyam Shrestha feels that despite differences over organisational reshuffling both Dahal and Bhattarai will stand together for peace and the constitution.
The Numbers Game: 16-member Standing Committee
Dahal -- 3 (Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Post Bahadur Bogati & Barsha Man Pun)
Bhattarai -- 4 (Baburam Bhattarai, Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Ram Bahadur Thapa & Dina Nath Sharma)
Baidya -- 4 (Mohan Baidya, CP Gajurel, Dev Gurung & Netra Bikram Chand)
Undecided -- 5 (Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Giriraj Mani Pokhrel, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Amek Sherchan, Lila Mani Pokhrel)
148-member Central Committee
Dahal -- 53
Bhattarai -- 26
Baidya -- 46
Neutral -- 23
A highly placed government source told The Hindu on Thursday night, “This is very mysterious. There is no official information even till now. We kept quiet for a while for diplomatic reasons, but till now there is nothing. We want to develop Lumbini but how can we give total ownership of a major project, in a sacred place, to a foreign foundation? If Nepal was Buddha's janmabhoomi, birthplace, then India was Buddha's karmabhoomi. All actors have to be on board for such a project.”
But just before the constitutional deadline of May 28, Mr. Prachanda shifted track and allied with Dr. Bhattarai. The chairman declared, including in his interview to The Hindu, that there was no looking “left and right,” and that the party would now move forward to complete the process of integration and rehabilitation and writing a constitution. In principle, the Maoists accepted the modality proposed by the Nepal Army (NA) to create a mixed force under an NA directorate. Dr. Bhattarai supported the chairman's political line of “peace and constitution,” while Mr Kiran felt “betrayed” at Mr. Prachanda's “u-turn.”
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Mr. Prachanda continued to command the loyalty and support of all top PLA commanders. They argued that this was not the time to weaken the chairman since only he could complete the peace and constitutional process. They pointed to the “unnatural” alliance of Mr. Kiran and Dr. Bhattarai. Over three weeks, the two groups engaged in a bitter debate on how to break the impasse.
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However, he agreed to make Dr. Bhattarai the head of the parliamentary party board and propose him as the party's official prime ministerial candidate to lead a unity government. Mr. Kiran was to be made the head of the party's organisational and disciplinary departments.
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And vice-chairman Prakash would be sent to the present government as the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, replacing the present incumbent. A new team of Maoist Ministers representing all factions — giving an equitable share to women and the marginalised communities — would be sent to the present Cabinet.
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The Maoists have demanded that the leadership of the mixed force under the NA directorate be given to a former PLA commander; this force should have a combat role; and the entry of combatants should happen ‘unit wise.' {Not going to have any takers in the NA}
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The opposition, NC, has asked for the Prime Minister's resignation as per the five-point agreement signed when the CA was being extended. It sees the present Maoist proposal to change its Ministers as a violation of the agreement. Prime Minister Khanal, too, is reportedly unwilling to change his Cabinet, and has asked the Maoists to focus on the peace process instead. Maoists argue that they are within their rights to change party representatives in the government.
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Instead of getting bogged down in changing Ministers, what makes sense for the Maoists is to focus on arriving at a detailed deal on integration and rehabilitation. {Prashant Jha is asking the maoists to go for the jugular, the Ministerial re-allocation is just show. The real price lays in bombaring the NA with PLA combatants and changing the discourse because power flows from the barrel of a gun.}
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If there is no progress in the next one month, extending the CA will become an increasingly difficult proposition. {If there is no progress, there will be some more extensions ad infinitum. That is how Nepal runs. There is a budget that needs to be passed, so there will be compromises. Once the budget gets passed, people will slouch back and think about it later when things become itchy bitchy. Heh, its called stalemate-pal for a reason.}
said that he would quit if the major works related to the 2006 landmark peace process were not completed by August 13. {which they wont be
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Ten ministers, including nine from the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist party, the largest party in the coalition, were sworn in amid a power struggled in the Maoist party. {so basically, Khanal wants to quit not because of any moral posturing, but because of pressure from within his party ranks that the maoists who have been inducted as ministers will hijack the whole govt. But if you left it to Khanal, he would do a spoon-dance with the maoists in his running after power. Thankfully, the ML people are divided right in the middle.}
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top Maoist leader Mohan Vaidya "Kiran" has claimed that the former rebels should get another chance to lead the next national consensus government with the inclusion of the Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist. {fat chance that is happening.}
Khanal said his CPN-UML party has decided to support Maoist deputy leader Baburam Bhattarai for the prime minister's post if the next government is formed under the leadership of the former rebels.
The mixed model system is the precise cause for the stalemate today in Nepal. Basically, of the 601 members in the body who could pass legislation to formulate a Constituent Assembly, there is no party that has a majority. If this stalemate is continued, we will see more idiocy in the future.
While the NC had demanded a traditional Westminster parliamentary system, the Maoists had argued strongly in favour of a directly elected president who would be the head of government and state. In the task-force, the different parties seem to have arrived at a compromise formula, on the lines of the ‘French model'. Speaking exclusively to The Hindu, Mr. Karna said, “The President will be directly elected by the people, and will be responsible for foreign relations, and the army. The Prime Minister will be elected by the Parliament and take charge of day to day administrative matters, budget and governance.” This however remains a tentative proposal, and no party has given up its original stand in the negotiations yet.
On the electoral system, the NC had pushed for direct first-past-the-post elections while the Maoists had initially argued for a fully proportional representation based system, on the lines of a multi-member parliamentary constituency. But there is an emerging consensus around a mixed electoral system, similar to the one that was used in the Constituent Assembly elections. A leader involved in the negotiations said, “A certain proportion of seats would be based on direct elections, while the rest would be PR based where parties would select candidates based on their vote share. The selection of candidates will be inclusive and proportional, giving space to marginalised communities.”
This is a serious red-rag on Nepal's unity because the maoists take on federal structure is rooted in the standard communist yakkitak of ethnic or linguistic "nationalities", which is funny if not for the dichotomy and anachronism with what is today's world. The maoists' idea is to act as the protector of identity of the ethnic "nationalities". And by nationalities, what is meant are Newars, Tamangs, Magars, Gurung, Sherpa, Limbu, Rai, and Tharu. You can see the % from the 2001 census here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographi ... #EthnicityOn federalism, the CA's committee on state restructuring has proposed the formation of 14 states, in accordance with the position of the Maoists who had a majority in the committee. The NC, in an unofficial proposal, has said seven states would be appropriate. It has also demanded the formation of a State Restructuring Commission as stipulated by the interim constitution. But both the Maoists and the United Democratic Madhesi Front have opposed this. Maoist negotiator Khimlal Devkota told The Hindu, “It is too late to form an SRC. Instead, our chairman Prachanda has proposed the formation of a team of specialists. We can arrive at a political decision on the number of states; the criteria would be identity and capacity. The specialists can then give us suggestions on exact boundaries.”
Renu Dahal is of course the daughter of Prachanda. His son, Prakash Dahal, is trying to hobnob with the chinis. He even was in HK with his papa lying all the way that they are there to meet the expat Nepalis there. So there you go: daughter mediating with India, son mediating with china. Much like nepal caught between two giants and not sure which side to side. If you did nt get the sub-text, people's revolution ends at homeUML lawmaker Sapana Pradhan Malla, NC lawmaker Suprabha Ghimire and UCPN (Maoist) lawmaker Renu Dahal are among other lawmakers visiting New Delhi from Sunday.
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Most campaigns begin at Gorkha. Deuba vs. Bhattarai is a no-brainer of a contest, even the evil Indians will side with the good Doktar, only because if we choose to let this moment slip away, more evil shall haunt us.Nepali Congress (NC) senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba and UCPN (Maoist) Vice-chairman Baburam Bhattarai have claimed themselves as the prime ministerial candidate of the next government. Talking to local reporters in Gorkha on Saturday, Deuba and Bhattarai presented themselves as the future premier of the country.
Thats internal politics for you, I love this business better than the whine dhaaga business.The Maoist vice-chairman dismissed media reports that Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal backed Deuba as next prime ministerial candidate.
We circle you in Mongolia, Viet Nam and Laos, you can try your hand in Nepal, SL and BD. We will see who ends up being the winners. Bring it on. If it was nt for a phamily phorum, I will have some more choicest expletives added to that line. Actually, much before we find out who the winner is, your deepel than oshean fliends would have burst one more haseena atimbum to prove their religiosity. Welcome to instant karma.A Chinese high-level delegation led by a special envoy of Chinese President Hu Jintao is visiting Nepal from August 16.
Stan_Savljevic wrote: I will make one more prediction. Come, August 13, Jhalanath Khanal wont quit, he will cite some bs and stick around. But he will quit, in a short period after that, as the pressure piles on his head. His own party people will ask him to quit. The NC is piling the pressure saying that there is a violation of the 5 point agreement.
Nepal is not on our side. Nor should you expect it to. Nepal has been wedged between India and china and the reality has not changed for the last 300 years or so. Noone has been more self-conscious of this fact than Nepalis themselves.shyamd wrote:Stan, simple question - Is Nepal on our side or not? Will it split if the moment comes on taking sides?
“As heirs to one of the most ancient civilizations in Asia, our natural concern is to preserve our independence, a legacy handed down to us by history [...] we need peace for our security, we need peace for our independence, and we need peace for development. And if today, peace is an overriding concern for us, it is only because our people genuinely desire peace in our country, in our region and elsewhere in the world. It is with this earnest desire to institutionalize peace that I stand to make a proposition - a proposition that my country, Nepal, be declared a Zone of Peace. [...] As heirs to a country that has always lived in independence, we wish to see that our freedom and independence shall not be thwarted by the changing flux of time when understanding is replaced by misunderstanding, when conciliation is replaced by belligerency and war. (13).
Nepal's main political parties have agreed the last part of a landmark peace deal after years of wrangling.
A spokesman for the prime minister said the deal revolves around the future of about 19,000 former Maoist fighters.
About a third of them will be integrated into the security forces. The remainder will receive a pay-off.
The Maoists ended a long-running insurgency five years ago. Peace moves had stalled over the future of former rebel fighters and a new constitution.
A statement detailing the agreement was issued soon after it was announced by the four major parties of Nepal - the Maoists, the Nepali Congress, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) and the Madeshi People's Rights Forum (Democratic) party which represents people living in the southern plains.
It said that agreement had been reached "on issues relating the integration of former Maoist combatants into the security forces and providing support to victims of the conflict".
The statement said that 500,000 to 800,000 Nepali rupees ($6,300 to $10,190) would be given in compensation to those Maoists who do not join the security forces.
In addition:
- Weapons used by former Maoist fighter will be handed in to the state
- A peace and reconciliation commission will be formed within a month
- The Constituent Assembly's duration will be extended by six months
- Land captured or confiscated by the Maoists will be returned to original owners
Correspondents say that while the deal has cross-party support from politicians representing different areas of the country, not everyone has come out in support of it.
One influential Maoist leader, Mohan Baidya - the head of a hardline faction - has already expressed discontent.
The BBC's Jill McGivering says that the end of the civil war raised hopes in Nepal - but since then many became increasingly disillusioned with successive political stalemates and resignations.
Supporters of the deal hope that it will bring an end to one of the most difficult parts of the peace process - the future of weapons used by the Maoists during their insurgency and the future of the former insurgents themselves.
The Maoists gave up their decade-long armed revolt in 2006 and joined a peace process. Their decade-long insurgency left 15,000 people dead and caused massive damage to the economy.
They agreed to confine their fighters to UN-monitored camps and locked up their weapons, in addition to taking part in mainstream politics and contesting elections.
But there were strong disagreements among the main parties over the future of the former rebel fighters.
In 2009, Maoist leader Prachanda resigned as prime minister after his efforts to sack the country's army chief - who he accused of hampering his efforts to integrate former Maoist fighters in the army - were blocked by the president.
But the situation improved in September 2011 with the election of Maoist Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai.
Shortly after he was sworn in, most Maoist weapons were handed over to a multi-party committee tasked with overseeing the peace process.
Mr Bhattarai is the fifth in the five years since the peace process started. He has been described by some as the country's last hope.
Despite the breakthrough with the country main parties, correspondents say that many challenges still lie ahead.
One of the most pressing is the search to find consensus on drafting a new constitution, which is why another extension for the current Constituent Assembly has been agreed.
Nepalese police detained more than 60 Tibetan refugees early Tuesday as they demonstrated in support of Buddhist monks who have set themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule in their homeland.
Police say the demonstrators were arrested after shouting anti-China slogans during a prayer service outside a monastery on the outskirts of the capital, Kathmandu. Nepalese authorities are increasingly cracking down on gatherings of exiled Tibetans.
On Monday, China's military chief, General Chen Bingde, said Beijing approves of Nepal's "firm stance on issues related to Tibet."
Chen made his comments in Beijing during a visit by his Nepalese counterpart, General Chhatraman Singh Gurung, who reaffirmed his promise to never allow "anti-Chinese activities" to take place on Nepalese soil.
More than 20,000 Tibetan exiles are living in Nepal, after a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. Nepal has prohibited demonstrations by Tibetan exiles and cracked down on such gatherings in recent years as part of its “one-China” policy.
At least 10 Buddhist monks have set themselves on fire in southwest China in recent months to protest harsh Chinese rule of Tibet.