Nepal and Bhutan News and discussion

Karan Dixit · Post by **Karan Dixit** » 05 May 2010 09:26

As the situation in Nepal gets more tense by the day with the Maoists calling for an indefinite strike from tomorrow, India has thrown its weight behind the current coalition government. In fact, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told his Nepalese counterpart Madhav Kumar Nepal that New Delhi has “full confidence” in his leadership.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/facin ... rt/613970/

muraliravi · Post by **muraliravi** » 16 May 2010 04:32

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutan#Gov ... d_politics

On 8 February 2007, the Indo-Bhutan Friendship TreatyPDF (30.6 KB) was substantially revised. In the Treaty of 1949 Article 2 states: "The Government of India undertakes to exercise no interference in the internal administration of Bhutan. On its part the Government of Bhutan agrees to be guided by the advice of the Government of India in regard to its external relations." In the revised treaty it now reads as "In keeping with the abiding ties of close friendship and cooperation between Bhutan and India, the Government of the Kingdom of Bhutan and the Government of the Republic of India shall cooperate closely with each other on issues relating to their national interests. Neither government shall allow the use of its territory for activities harmful to the national security and interest of the other."

Signed by our Pranab Da. Now I would like to ask the gurus here, is there anything Chanakyan here that I am missing.

I mean, we had a great control with that statement " Government of Bhutan agrees to be guided by the advice of the Government of India in regard to its external relations ", why on earth did we have to get rid of that.

Please advise

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 16 May 2010 09:11

Boss, the MEA policy with Bhutan has been orchestrated over the last few years from "more of a clientele state" to one of "joint partnership." This has been done with an enlightened reasoning to pre-empt any nepal type happenstances in Bhutan.

There are three things going on: i) crowding of the popularity space the Wangchuks have been holding with increased fear of a maoist-type takeover that a lack of democrazy may bring -- all that gross national happiness etc. makes for one fine statement, but at the end of the day, any monarchy, Druk or whatever, can only go so for; the example that is seen in Bhutan that they should imitate is that of Thailand, ii) a need to realign policies wrt India so that they can be sold to the democrazy clientele, viz. the people. It has been feared in MEA circles that any changes once democrazy sets in firmly would be far more bizarre than what has been conceded now. Take the example of nepal, it would have been easier to handle Birendra and Mahendra than a Gyanendra or the Prachanda-types. So in some sense, a historical anachronism has been "corrected." Also note the timeline of when Jigme Khesar Wangchuk took over, where his education was, etc. iii) There is a good fear that such course correction can lead to anti-Indian sentiments or at the very least such sentiments exploited by nutjobs. But for that one has to only take a look at the increased encroachment of Bhutan by the chinis, there has been a lot of land that has been taken over by the chinis in North and West Bhutan. So while the Bhutias demand "space" and nationalist Indians have a reason to fear the same, the antipathy can only go so far. The chinis are their own worst enemies.

That explains why despite HUGE possibilities of loss in terms of power tapping potential in the Indian Northeast, India has let go of that and has acquiesced to using Bhutan's hydro power potential rather than building its own in the NE, esp Sikkim , UP and Uttarakhand.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 18 May 2010 05:31

Two stubs on the 1950 Treaty...

Because of the open border system, 3.5 million to 6 million Nepalese men and women are estimated to have been involved in gainful employment in India as agricultural workers, porters, watch persons, helpers, officials and hotel staff. Be it the people from Terai, the hill or the mountain in Nepal, they all have India as their major destination for employment.

A large number of the agricultural workers from this region have been going to Haryana and Punjab states of India in certain seasons for employment.

Quite recently, when the new Treaty of Trade was signed between Nepal and India on 28 October 2009, all forms of non-tariff barriers on Nepalese exportable items to India were removed, which was a major barrier in boosting up the country's exports of agro and non-agro based products to India. The duty refundable process was scrapped and the Nepalese traders were allowed to import goods from India in Indian currency. In order to reap the gain of duty-free access to India without any quantitative restriction, some new products were added to the list of primary products to be exported to India.

In the absence of 1950 Treaty, can one imagine of the fate of millions of Nepalese working in India and many more of their family members at home who solely depend on the earnings in India? What would have been the impact on the Nepalese economy due to the loss of billions worth of rupees in the absence of the remittance from India? What would happen to the economy of Nepal in the absence of non-reciprocity in job opportunities? Can they buy land and hold property in India in the absence of such a Treaty? Can land locked country, Nepal, afford to satisfy itself with only one border point as per the international norm to have access to the sea in the place of as many as 26 border points existing today? The gains from the 1950 Treaty would be better understood if it ceases to exist even for a day.

http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpap ... r3815.html

M’laya to deploy more policemen to Langpih
http://www.sentinelassam.com/meghalaya/ ... pr=1#36486
How is the above relevant to the 1950 Treaty, one may ask?
Scrap Indo-Nepal Treaty, says KSU
http://www.sentinelassam.com/meghalaya/ ... pr=1#36488

Condemning the May-14 Langpih incident, hundreds of placard-holding students of NEHU, led by KSU’s NEHU unit, today demanded scrapping of the Indo-Nepal Treaty, 1950 and an immediate solution to the long-pending boundary dispute between Meghalaya and Assam. The students held a meeting where they condemned the “barbaric act of unprovoked firing” by the Assam Police that claimed four lives and left several others injured at Langpih on Friday last.

More details here:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Langp ... ndh/620141
http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/det ... 1610/oth06

Paul · Post by **Paul** » 19 May 2010 22:53

Stan_Savljevic wrote:Boss, the MEA policy with Bhutan has been orchestrated over the last few years from "more of a clientele state" to one of "joint partnership." This has been done with an enlightened reasoning to pre-empt any nepal type happenstances in Bhutan.

There are three things going on: i) crowding of the popularity space the Wangchuks have been holding with increased fear of a maoist-type takeover that a lack of democrazy may bring -- all that gross national happiness etc. makes for one fine statement, but at the end of the day, any monarchy, Druk or whatever, can only go so for; the example that is seen in Bhutan that they should imitate is that of Thailand, ii) a need to realign policies wrt India so that they can be sold to the democrazy clientele, viz. the people. It has been feared in MEA circles that any changes once democrazy sets in firmly would be far more bizarre than what has been conceded now. Take the example of nepal, it would have been easier to handle Birendra and Mahendra than a Gyanendra or the Prachanda-types. So in some sense, a historical anachronism has been "corrected." Also note the timeline of when Jigme Khesar Wangchuk took over, where his education was, etc. iii) There is a good fear that such course correction can lead to anti-Indian sentiments or at the very least such sentiments exploited by nutjobs. But for that one has to only take a look at the increased encroachment of Bhutan by the chinis, there has been a lot of land that has been taken over by the chinis in North and West Bhutan. So while the Bhutias demand "space" and nationalist Indians have a reason to fear the same, the antipathy can only go so far. The chinis are their own worst enemies.

That explains why despite HUGE possibilities of loss in terms of power tapping potential in the Indian Northeast, India has let go of that and has acquiesced to using Bhutan's hydro power potential rather than building its own in the NE, esp Sikkim , UP and Uttarakhand.

Superb post....this post is a keeper.

It is the standard fashion in BRF to deride the PM of the day and not look back to correct the mistake in 20/20 vision. Case in point being what was done with ABV years ago. This debilitating tendency is being repeated today with MMS as well.

BTW Stan....King Mahendra's policies that were anthema to GOI were inspired in part by the linkages with the Ango-saxons. There is not much India could do...the maoist challenge in Nepal is an extension of socio-economic challenges seen in east India.

The solution to this challenge is being shown partly in the path being charted by Nitish Kumar's combine in Bihar. Looking back in reprospect at Nepal's problems with India, it would not have gone away even if this state were absorbed into India. We have have to provide a art 370 sort of consolation which would come back to haunt us now.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 20 May 2010 13:56

One other point to note about Bhutanese and even Sikkimese insecurity is that a good fraction of the population is nepali-speaking. In fact, Jyoti Basu went all the way to support nepali as one of the national languages of India (!). It has come back to bite WB in its backside now that Subhas Ghising and his GNLF have been usurped by the GJM and Bimal Gurung. One of the early Indian Idol winners, Prashant Tamang is in the forefront of coaxing at a pan-Gorkhaland, within India but outside WB. Dooars and Darjeeling keep burning day-by-day and the Telengana stuff only poured fuel to fire. If this nascent movement can be ripened to lead to a further union between India and nepal, so be it. But i doubt if history will tread in that direction given the acrimony on the other side.

Back to the point, Sikkim is treading on a real Lebanon-like situation. It is a bit of a shady comparison as Lebanon != Sikkim. But the comparison does travel a bit of distance. In another 10-15 years, Bhutias in Sikkim will become a numerical minority given the rate of growth of the two sides. Same for Bhutan. Bhutan's insecurity stems not from India, GoI is/was/has been the bulwark for much of Bhutanese society given the way in which we have held fort in times of desperate need. The fear is wrt maoist movements spearheading a eastern column back into N. India and Nepal. In fact, bhutan has ejected quite a few nepalis and denied them refugee status. Quite a few of them are in Texas and Louisiana now and very susceptible to conversion, as can be expected. I remember posting a piece on this a few months back.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » 21 May 2010 03:57

Stan_Savljevic wrote: Quite a few of them are in Texas and Louisiana now and very susceptible to conversion, as can be expected. I remember posting a piece on this a few months back.

The ground is getting prepared for some time. I had posted these links a while ago.

www.boloji.com/opinion/0350.htm

http://www.hrw.org/.../open-letter-dono ... e-refugees

Anantz · Post by **Anantz** » 22 May 2010 15:05

@ Stan

In Sikkim, bhutias were always a minority, right from the first census held in the independent kingdom, the Nepali speaking population of Sikkim was almost 70-80%, and it has always been such. The Bhutias were the minority ruling elite of Sikkim who migrated to the lower himalayas from the Kham region of Tibet who colonized the indigenous people there. The original residents of Sikkim have always been the Lepcha, Limboos and Mangars, with the latter two being predominantly Nepali speaking.

Hence your conclusion that Sikkim will go the Lebanon way turning Bhutias into a minority is totally erroneous! Sikkim merged into India because of the agitation for political reforms led by the Nepali speaking citizens of Sikkim, against the Bhutia king who had openly discrimanted against the Nepali speaking population of Sikkim by depriving them of even basic rights such as one man one vote. It is because of the Nepali speaking population of Sikkim that Sikkim is in India today, infact the very same Indian Nepalis in Darjeeling were instrumental in instigating a political revolution in Sikkim which ultimately led to merger of Sikkim into India.

And today cooking up conspiracy theories against the same community is just not fair!

kittoo · Post by **kittoo** » 24 May 2010 03:20

Can someone please tell me what this article is talking about? I can't understand which way this article goes. Is it advocating a Hindu Rashtra Nepal or is it not? Is it actually favoring Baba Ramdev or ridiculing him? What exactly is the undercurrent of this article-

http://blog.com.np/2010/05/16/politics- ... onversion/

By Dinesh Wagle

A conference of Nepali and Indian ultra-Hindu rightists in Mumbai last week has decided to launch “a coordinated campaign to re-establish Nepal as a Hindu state”. Kamal Thapa, who sees his future in religion-based politics, participated. Thapa said the conference expressed concern over sinister plans being carried out in Nepal to wipe out the identity of a Hindu state.

On a sweltering April afternoon in New Delhi, I met a former Nepali Congress lawmaker who is best known these days for pulling strings at the highest levels of the Indian establishment to get his wife deported to Nepal a few months ago. But Amresh Kumar Singh is not a man to be taken lightly when he talks about political happenings in Nepal.

“Do you think Ramdev went to teach yoga?” he asked referring to the Indian yoga guru’s highly publicised trip to Nepal a week earlier. “No. He was there to explore possibilities of establishing a new political party. That is why he met and talked to a variety of people during his stay.”

“You mean Ramdev will open a party in Nepal?”

“No, he and other people [from India] will help Nepalis to form a political force,” Singh said.

“Mark my words; we will soon see a rightist party in action in Nepal that will advocate restoration of Hindu Rashtra Nepal.”

The chronic disease of Hindu fundamentalism that has been spreading the viruses of hatred in India has slowly been asserting itself in Nepal in recent months. Under the more appealing banner of Hindutva, Nepali agents of the Indian Hindu right are gradually pushing the agenda of restoration of the monarchy. As the popularly elected political leadership is struggling to draft a constitution and take the peace process to a logical conclusion, these religious zealots are equating the issue of Hindu Rashtra with the dead monarchy.

What I know for sure is that people like me, liberal Hindus with a secular mindset, are in an overwhelming majority in Nepal. We want the country to be a forum equally accessible for people of all faiths. My own view — expressed first on my Facebook profile — is that religion is certainly not opium but a cigarette that should be smoked in private without disturbing other people. It’s a very personal thing. Politicising religion is dangerous as it inevitably invites conflict and violence in society. I even feel that people shouldn’t be classified according to their religious standing. They shouldn’t be asked about their religion in the national census. People should be given complete freedom to have or not to have faith in religion. That is precisely what our Interim Constitution does. More importantly, it bars forced conversion. While the constitution, for example, lets me dump my current religion and go for another if I wish to do so (because this act involves no one but me) it bars me from luring a person of a different faith to my religion (because this act involves a person apart from me).

But some people with vested interests are not happy with this constitutional provision. Take, for example, our cash rich European brothers who believe that they can buy Nepali dignity with some scratched euro or pound notes as if it were a stale pizza on sale in a rural Italian bakery. I was shocked to read a report in the Post few weeks ago that said, “The European Union… urged the [Nepal] government to allow ‘full freedom’ to proselytise while drafting the new constitution.” A letter forwarded by the French Embassy, in its capacity as the EU local presidency in Kathmandu, to the government said the current constitutional provisions on religious rights were “limited”. The sinister motive of the letter is clear: Buying poor Nepalis to Christianity should be legalised.

Who are the Europeans kidding here? This letter is a textbook example of unsavory forces trying to fish in the troubled waters of Nepal that is going through a difficult transitional crisis. Instead of doing so, the Europeans should look at themselves in the mirror where they will see countries like Malta, Monaco, Greece, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and England that, with their official religion, have a long way to go to become a secular nation like Nepal. The EU should write such letters to Germany and Finland, apart from the aforementioned countries, where the Evangelical and Roman Catholic Church and Finnish Orthodox Church enjoy de facto privileged status. Okay, for once, forget all this. Go and tell the Vatican City to become secular before lecturing us on religious freedom. Ask the BBC to give equal coverage to Benedict XVI and Ramdev, will you? This type of brazen intervention undermines our, secularists’, fight against Hindu fundamentalists in Nepal. This intervention also strengthens people like Kamal Thapa.

And France, by the way, should be the last country to advise us on religious affairs. The country, where religious minorities are treated very badly, has a terrible record on religious freedom. I am not saying this. In its 2009 edition of the annual International Religious Freedom report, the US State Department says the French government’s “discriminatory treatment of Jehovah’s Witnesses and Scientologists remained a concern”. The report says, “Some religious groups voiced opposition to legislation passed in 2001 and 2004, which provides for the dissolution of groups under certain circumstances and bans wearing of conspicuous religious symbols by public school employees and students.”

France not only violated its own 1905 law on the separation of religion and the state that prohibits discrimination on the basis of faith by banning Muslim symbols and allowing Christian symbols to be worn. No one has left Nepal because of an unfriendly religious environment; but according to several reports, many people belonging to the Muslim faith have been forced to leave France because of tightening control over religious freedom. No student has been expelled from a Nepali school for their faith, but two female junior high school students, Dounia and Khouloudewere, aged 12 and 13 respectively, were the first to be expelled under a draconian French law for refusing to take off their headscarves on Oct. 20, 2004 from a school in Mulhouse, Alsace.

The Europeans, instead of unnecessarily poking their nose into Nepali affairs, should rather go for trekking in the Himalaya and enjoy their Nepal assignment which anyway is nothing but a long holiday for them. If trekking is not enough and you miss your home, here is a suggestion: The Roadhouse Café in Thamel serves mouthwatering pizza; Délices de France, a restaurant run by a wonderful French woman and attacked by Maoist thugs during the recent strike, serves excellent chicken liver terrine; and nearby Dohori Saanjh restaurants serve unlimited glasses of beer. Chew, drink and cheer for your favourite football team. The World Cup is coming.

I feel such an idiot.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 24 May 2010 06:49

Anantz, its gonna be a while (sooner than later) before I can get back to you. Sorry for the misinterpretation between what I had said and what I had intended.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 28 May 2010 06:39

Letter From Kathmandu

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/features/ ... -kathmandu

The Nepali crews that inch closer to China, bringing heavy trucks to a valley that has known only foot traffic, are at the forefront of a potentially major strategic shift in the region: Nepal, long a dependable ally and client of India, is building economic and political ties with China. Good roads are just one sign of this relationship and, as Rhoderick Chalmers, an International Crisis Group analyst in Kathmandu, explained to me, could "prevent India from using its ultimate sanction of economic blockade on Kathmandu." If China can begin supplying many of the goods that Nepal now receives from India -- especially petrol, diesel, and kerosene -- then India's leverage would be severely limited.

Although one new highway will not in itself push Nepal from India's sphere of influence -- history, economics, and above all, geography will see to that -- the mere fact that India may one day have to compete for Nepal's attention is a sign of Kathmandu's political reorientation.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 28 May 2010 10:03

Deadlock Pushes Nepal to Brink of a Political Crisis

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/world ... nepal.html

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 07 Jun 2010 03:00

Army Chief begins Bhutan visit today
http://www.hindu.com/2010/06/07/stories ... 421500.htm

Sanjay M · Post by **Sanjay M** » 04 Jul 2010 09:36

Tension in Nepal after Hindu leader’s murder, one held

A few days ago, the local media had reported that Tiwari, along with a few other politicians, had received death threats. The police arrested one Jalim Miyan, a local resident, from his house in Sreepur area on Sunday night. Miyan had recently joined the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (UCPN-M) at a special function held at his home in which UCPN-M chairman Prachanda was also present.

derkonig · Post by **derkonig** » 06 Jul 2010 15:09

For those who think Nepal is still in India's "orbit",
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl ... 133937.cms

lsunil · Post by **lsunil** » 06 Jul 2010 16:44

Countries in south asia try to pull each other down.

Bangladesh wants free flow of it's citizens to india without conditions. We do not agree cause it changes demography and are building fence around it. BD goes on an anti-india drive of rhetoric and tries to reach out to the chinese just to piss the indians off. A blackmail.

Sri lanka wants india to handle the world for it, while it engages in genocide of the tamils. If we do not do that, it reaches out to china.

Enough being the nice guy. India should stop choosing the middle way.

Regarding china... It is now a part of south asia. Any nuclear delivery from pakistan will be returned not just to pakiland but china also.

derkonig · Post by **derkonig** » 06 Jul 2010 22:53

Playing off one country against the other doesn't count as being in someones "orbit". India, under the UPA regimes, has lost serious amount of influence in Nepal and it is unlikely that this pathetic situation will change unless a nationalist dispensation takes power in Delhi.

partha · Post by **partha** » 07 Jul 2010 17:57

Did Prachanda send SOS to Sonia?]

Hopelessly caught in the quicksand of Nepal’s politics and with little chance of receiving a helping hand from the other political parties, did Maoist chief and former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda send an SOS to his bête noir India, yet again? That’s the claim made by a Nepali weekly known for its relentless ferreting out of skeletons in politicians’ and aristocrats’ cupboards.

The Jana Aastha daily reported on Wednesday that the Maoist leader had contacted Ahmed Patel, the political advisor of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, seeking access to her. However, there had been no positive response so far, it added.

In 2009, when the Prachanda government was on the brink of collapse, it had then sent an urgent request to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to send an envoy to sort out the mess. However, New Delhi, weary of the strident anti-India bashing by the Maoists, declined, calling it an internal matter of Nepal, and the first Maoist government of Nepal fell.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 07 Jul 2010 18:53

Jana Astha Daily is the maoist mouthpiece. It is hard to believe prachanda rejecting the claim of Jana astha and yet believe him. The deadline set by Ram Baran Yadav for government formation is soon approaching (or has it passed -- it was 7/7/2010, seems like RBY has extended it to 12/7/2010). None of the other two contenders, CPN (ML) and NC, as well as a good majority of the 25 other fringe parties want a CPN (M) government. Most of them are burned, and only Upendra Yadav led MJF is keen to hold hands with CPN (M). Even within the maoist rank and file, there is huge dissension between Baburam bhattarai and Bam Dev Gautam on one side and PK Dahal on the other. The other basketcases CPN (ML) and NC are also showing vertical divides: Jhalanath Khanal wants power whereas MK Nepal and KP Sharma Oli (who India favor) want to stay aloof, Sher Bahadur Deuba and Ramchandra Poudel want to be in whereas Sushil Koirala and Sujata Koirala want out. So all this points to fresh elections. PK Dahal and maoists fearing a backlash if elections are held, esp for the atrocities that have been committed since 2006. This is SOS literally. Amb. Rakesh Sood will stay away from the mess that is. We already had a bad press with the kantipur newsprint saga and the machine readable passport saga. Let the maoists stew in their own gooey, and the shipments to the army shall continue lest the maoists take a people's war to the next stage. Well, let them. If the maoists take to violence, there is now every excuse to exterminate them as anti-national thugs. The major problem will come if these leeches stick around and become a part of the mainstream for everafter.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 07 Jul 2010 18:59

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Worl ... 135139.cms

Nepal still forbidden domain for Dalai Lama
TNN, Jul 6, 2010, 04.42pm IST

Tags:birthday|Dalai Lama|Nepal
KATHMANDU: He commiserated with the people of Nepal over the massacre of its royal family in 2001 and still earlier, helped the government of Nepal see an end to fierce guerrilla warfare against its powerful northern neighbour. But despite his real – though unacknowledged – contribution to peace in Nepal, the Dalai Lama, Buddhism’s most famous disciple alive, remained a pariah in the birthplace of the Buddha with his followers not allowed to pray for his long life and health on his 75th birthday on Tuesday for fear of angering China.

"Over 350 Tibetans were detained by Nepal police while trying to attend the prayer meeting today on the occasion of His Holiness’ 75th birthday," said a doleful Tibetan journalist, who declined to be named. "There were extraordinary security measures to deter Tibetans from attending the mass meeting and we were not allowed to pray at the traditional public Buddhist places like Boudhanath, Swayambhunath and Pharping."

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 07 Jul 2010 21:37

Dark reasons for India’s exit from Nepal passport deal?
http://www.sentinelassam.com/internatio ... pr=1#40953

Laxman · Post by **Laxman** » 14 Jul 2010 11:33

Printing of newspaper should not be stopped'.
India’s Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has been holding up the newsprint shipment imported from Canada and South Korea at the Kolkata port for the past 28 days, which is likely to bring the printing of the major two national dallies--The Kathmandu Post and Kantipur to a halt.

http://www.ekantipur.com/2010/06/24/top ... ed/317175/

India has no right to stop newsprint shipment: Ex-FM Mahat

"Holding the newprint by India is not good," said Dr. Mahat, during his visit to the publications today.
http://www.ekantipur.com/2010/06/24/top ... at/317185/

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 14 Jul 2010 12:15

^^ Boss, the url that the articles are from is the e-site for the newspaper which is under question. A clear case of conflict of interest

. A bit dated, but the issue was these kantipur folks did nt clear the paperwork. And made a big ruckus of it. All the known dung beetles crowded around waiting to tar the Indian embassy. Fortunately, the situation got defused in a few days and the dung beetles went searching for other stuff. At the end of the day, Kantipur and the Indian embassy have more business dealings than the Indian embassy and some of the dung beetles.

Laxman · Post by **Laxman** » 17 Jul 2010 14:24

Great, India is growing faster than faster, but how India could look regional climate change and its impact on neighboring countries! Follwoing data could speak more.....

Contributions to Greenhouse gas emission by the sector and country in South Asia
Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka
Sectors
Energy Transformation and use - 32 - 1068 5 112 11
Electricity and Heat - 9 - 558 0 34 3
Manufacturing and Construction - 10 - 231 1 27 1
Transportation - 3 - 92 1 25 6
Other fuel combination - 10 - 147 3 17 1
Fugitive Emission - 0 - 40 0 9
Industrial process - 2 0.1 71 0 5 1
Agriculture - 72 - 639 24 149 -
Waste - 16 - 88 2 17 -
Forestry 9 - - 124 33 30
Source: The World Bank, 2009

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 04 Aug 2010 02:12

Shyam Saran being sent as special envoy to Nepal

http://www.hindu.com/2010/08/04/stories ... 601000.htm

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 05 Aug 2010 02:32

Shyam Saran faces difficult task in Nepal

http://www.hindu.com/2010/08/05/stories ... 431400.htm

Karan Dixit · Post by **Karan Dixit** » 13 Aug 2010 09:12

It seems like parliamentary form of democracy is not going to work in Nepal. What about polit bureau style democracy? They should create a voter registration system which will include officers from military, police, judiciary, etc. This voter pool should be able to come up with a qualified leader to lead Nepal. And once the country is stable, voter pool can be expanded to include the average mango man.

---

http://www.newkerala.com/news2/fullnews-17760.html

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 13 Aug 2010 09:30

Karan Dixit wrote:It seems like parliamentary form of democracy is not going to work in Nepal. What about polit bureau style democracy?

What exactly does a PB style democrazy mean? You have instances in Kerala, WB and Tripura to think about and optimistically hope for. On the other hand, the case in Nepal is that the maoists-sponsored YCL are running riot and competing with an army apparatus in terms of numbers, credibility, sustenance and hard power. You can have only one army for a country -- it can either be the people's army or the real army. Till Nepal decides on which one it really wants, there is no question of stability. There cant be one, that is only ah-so-natural.

The best case scenario for Nepal now is to have a Baburam Bhattarai-led maoist government with consensus from both the NC and CPN (ML) sides. If consensus has to happen, YCL have to be disbanded and Constitution writing should become the numero uno prerogative of everyone. Short of that and short of replacing Prachanda with Baburam Bhattarai, there cannot be a realistic hope for any form of short-term stability. The Sansad elections can keep going on and on till eternity till Prachanda can buy off the Madhes representatives completely. Or till Bijay Kumar Gachedar gets assassinated by the YCL. Or till the MK Nepal or KP Sharma Oli faction of CPN (ML) gets run down the ground by the Jhalnath Khanal faction. None of this is happening anytime soon. And the Nepalis are not going to stop from cursing the Biharis or UP bhaiyas for all their woes. Nor is Rakesh Sood going to get any kudos for running the ship in a Nepali monsoon in a bucket. So you have a choice: take a glass of Nepali chai, sit back, relax and ensaai maadi.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 13 Aug 2010 13:16

Just to add a soundbyte to the above: It is a contest between socialists (Nepal Congress) who are left of center, and electioneering communists (CPN (Marxist-Leninist)) who are even more left of center. In this midst, comes a CPN (maoist) and the only space they can occupy is far left of center. So it is kinda clear as to what direction Nepali politics would take (and has taken). The King used to be the center, both literally and figuratively, and now he plays only a nominal role in day-to-day life and almost zero role in politics. There seems to be almost zero contenders for the right of center space. And it is almost a given that there can be NO stable equilibrium in this setting. The only way out is if NC moves from left to the right, but not necessarily in a monarchic direction. {Incidentally, Paras was in the limelight just a few days back, who would have thunked that?!} The CPN(ML) has to shift to the center and the CPN(M) can take the left jumping bunny gene then. For that, one has to wait it out. Such natural evolution does happen. It is only recently that veteran GP Koirala, who had been the left-sided gel behind NC, passed away. All indications of Sujata Koirala are she is a more assertive centrist. Same for Bidya Devi Bhandari of CPN(ML). Prachanda also seems keen on planting his progeny in the maoist succession line. Baburam Bhattarai is too old and the new-gen ideologically-not-so-strong youngistan brigade is definitely not pro-India. To coax the system to move into a state of equilibrium, the key may again lie with India than elsewhere. For India, a known devil is any day better than an unknown devil. In the short run, India may even prefer a Baburam Bhattarai-led maoist cabal to run the country than a nightmarish coalition that is on the crutch for ever. Madhav Kumar Nepal's government was a coup for sure, but it never ever got to the bizness of Constitution writing in any seriousness. South Block seems to be re-evaluating priorities and re-jigging the calculus in Nepal. These hidden calculations explain Shyam Saran's visit, Rakesh Sood's call back, KV Rajan's visit, etc.

Karan Dixit · Post by **Karan Dixit** » 13 Aug 2010 18:55

I am talking about a voting system which will exclude average mango man for the time being. It will be cost effective and will provide for a stable Nepal. You can call it whatever you want to. It won't have the tamasha of Parliament. The elected head of the state can be called Secretary General or the President or whatever. We can create a similar voting system for district and state level governance.

RamaT · Post by **RamaT** » 20 Aug 2010 17:51

[Moving original post to this thread.. hope it's appropriate, if not then let me know which one.]

http://www.indiandefencereview.com/2010 ... nepal.html

What is going on in Nepal? If one goes by the latest news, nothing good for India. Why did Mr. Shyam Saran, the Prime Minsiter’s Special Envoy had to pay a quick visit to the former Himalayan Kingdom to meet ‘Prachanda’, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Chairman and other political leaders?
The answer is that India’s special position in Nepal is waning fast, very fast.

That two front war that we've been preparing for is about to happen. China is fighting us vis-a-vis Sun-Tzu, clandestinely and with proxies and we're sitting on the maidan waiting for signs of their army on the horizon. If Nepal becomes a Chinese protectorate similar to Pakistan then it will set Indian goals back by 15 years, provide a path for Maoists and material support straight into India and we can forget about Arunachal, China will march in when it feels like it and take over.

Why can't we throw out the Babu's and get in some people who know ow to play the game? China's goal is a divided India and it is doing everything, by hook and crook to achieve it while we keep debating whether we should give them access to our computer networks.

Any ideas or hope for India to manage the situation or is this already China's fait-accompli?

AKalam · Post by **AKalam** » 23 Aug 2010 15:35

I came across these two articles on the web (both seem politicized and biased):

http://www.mongolvision.com/index.php?at=2
http://www.countercurrents.org/nepal-kissoon230107.htm

Is this what is going on behind the Maoist movement facade? Are these articles voicing majority opinion in Nepal?

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 23 Aug 2010 22:16

NYT writes:

Neapal fails in 5th try for PM

Very fractured mandate and large egos.

AKalam · Post by **AKalam** » 25 Aug 2010 02:29

Last night I had the good fortune to get the blessings of a real life Om baba, a Nepali Brahmin, at a convenience store near my home. His name is Om, as in Om Shanti. I put the question to him about this Mongol-Aryan issue in Maoist movement in Nepal, he mentioned that Maoist are a mixed group consisting of diverse ethnic types, so the racial/ethnic dimension has not taken shape there it seems, to my relief. But its possible, as is evident from the web site link in my above post, that some entity might be getting ready to open a second front, if the Maoism/communism tool looses its cutting edge in the future.

Nepal, as the cradle of Buddhism and being the birthplace of Buddha, it might be possible to invite Buddhists from other wealthy Asian countries with significant Buddhist population, such as Japan and South Korea, who can fund and develop centers of Buddhism there. This could help open a front against Maoism/Communism with influence from societies who are successful in market economies and can help them industrialize with FDI and market access. Transit through Bangladesh sea ports should also help in this process for Nepalese export and import trade.

Buddhism can be a strategic weapon that India can sharpen and put to good use in South Asia, ASEAN and East Asia.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 25 Aug 2010 04:36

From as much as I can discern, one faultline in Nepal lies between the Terai Madhes (a substantial minority) and the (Kathmandu) Valley-based folks, derisively called Pahadis. The biggest faultline, like as in pakistan, is between the feudals who hold power (army, neta, business-log cabal) and the (often) poor farmers and subsistence daily laborers. This is the font and source for the maoist movement. Maoism is just the latest excuse for the latter group to somehow usurp and liberate themselves. In this sense, there are a lot of commonalities between tribals in the red belt of India and the mining-neta cabal.

As regards maoists and their ideology, they have recently been FOR the institution of (essentially caste/sub-clan based) autonomous provinces, which has been vociferously opposed by CPN (ML) and NC. For example, Kochila and Limbuwan were unfurled in December last year after the maoists' Jan Andolan Part-II did nt bring in any change in terms of the then Madhav Kumar Nepal government. In all, they (then) had plans for 13 such autonomous provinces. The maoists go by the standard communist fare of "sub-nationalities", and as long as these sub-nationalities further their People's war and brings down established entities, everything is par for the course. Even the Indian communists believe in such outdated ideas as sub-nationalities -- any Politburo document that talks about divisions in society (either the language or the religious kind) will not be complete without a sub-nationality-based discussion.

Nepal has been milking both Buddhism and Everest for god knows how long. Not much will change, unless a truly representative democracy arrives. And such a date is very far and away. The institutional inertia is far higher than anywhere else, perhaps only exceeded by pakistan. Trade with BD, even if India allows free transit for either side, is bound to favor BD far more than Nepal. Nepal has very little to export to BD. In fact, as much as the maoists would want to dissociate themselves from India, reality on the ground (both economic as well as in terms of remittances) is such that the last person to want to break the free movement of peoples across the India-Nepal border would be aamchi Nepali. Why would nt the maoists in their two year rule do what they had proclaimed in their Jan Andolan - Part I? Cos it is easy to yakkitak uselessly, harder to do something useful. Especially when reality bites hard. In Bihar and much of UP -- esp in the area flooded by the Kosi River, there is a huge shortage of agri labor on the Indian side and much of it is met by Nepalis who walk back and forth across the border. Gurkha guards walking the streets of Tamil Nadu (so far south of the India-Nepal border) and protecting neighborhoods is not uncommon even today. Nepal needs India more than India needs Nepal. That is a sore reality most folks on the Nepali side realize, much else is nothing but posturing. When the maoists say, we should do more trade with the chinis, well they are only shooting themselves more. Nepal-china trade is far more to the benefit of china than is Nepal-India trade to India, at least with India, Nepal can sell some stuff, the chinis will screw them twice over.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 25 Aug 2010 22:35

^^
Your points are quite valid esp. in the context of Nepal. There is lot of flow across the border and ethno cultural relations are maintained.

India extends lot of benefits to citizens of neighboring countries except Pakistan, Bangladesh and SriLanka.

They are eligible to get appointment to various Govt posts with few exceptions in Group A posts

1. CITIZENSHIP :

A Candidate must be either:-

(a) a citizen of India, or

(b) a subject of Nepal, or

(c) a subject of Bhutan, or

(d) a Tibetan refugee who came over to India before 1st January, 1962 with the intention of permanently settling in India, or

(e) a person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka or East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania (formerly Tanganyika and Zanzibar), Zambia, Malavi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam.

or from Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India.

Provided that a candidate belonging to categories (b), (c), (d) and (e) above shall be a person in whose favour a certificate of eligibility has been issued by the Government of India.

NOTE : The application of a candidate in whose case a certificate of eligibility is necessary, may be considered by the Commission and, if recommended for appointment, the candidate may also be provisionally appointed subject to the necessary certificate being issued in his favour by the Government of India.

In case of Group C and D jobs there is general order making them eligible straightaway.So one would notice lot of Nepalis working as watchmen.

kmkraoind · Post by **kmkraoind** » 27 Aug 2010 11:21

'Maoists positive about monarchy

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 27 Aug 2010 19:12

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2 ... s_in_limbo
Foreign Policy magazine article on Maoists in Nepal.

Raghavendra · Post by **Raghavendra** » 29 Aug 2010 21:20

Nepalese media group targets Indian ventures http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20100829/83 ... ian_1.html

Nepal media group declares war on India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl ... 456383.cms

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 02 Sep 2010 01:01

Posting in full for its details...

Op-Ed in Pioneer

2 Sept 2010

EDITS | Wednesday, September 1, 2010 | Email | Print | | Back

Logjam in Nepal

ASHOK K MEHTA

Shyam Saran’s recent visit to Kathmandu to try and break the political deadlock has pleased nobody. India needs to review its Nepal policy

The question being asked in Nepal is what on earth made former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran suddenly descend on Kathmandu. A former Ambassador to Nepal, the erudite Mr Saran has been India’s pointperson on climate change and the India-US civil nuclear agreement and, therefore, not been following the mundane events of a power struggle in Kathmandu.

He arrived early last month unannounced as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s special envoy to Nepal, a few days ahead of the fourth round of musical chairs for the elusive post of Prime Minister. The job has been vacant since Mr Madhav Kumar Nepal quit the office in response to the Maoist demand to facilitate the formation of a national unity Government. Nepal’s Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala said she knew nothing about Mr Saran’s visit and presumed it must be a private one.

New Delhi’s good intentions to help in consensus-building to break the political impasse were badly played in Kathmandu where the level and intensity of anti-Indianism has reached its peak. The Maoists observe that India as usual was up to no good (euphemism for interfering in Nepal’s internal affairs) in trying to block their party from forming a Government.

As Foreign Secretary, Mr Saran prepared the ground for the historic Delhi Agreement in 2005 which brought the seven-party alliance and Maoists on one platform to dislodge the monarchy. In less than six months, the 250-year-old monarchy became history. What 10 years of people’s war failed to achieve, 19 days of peaceful protests did in restoring power to the people. As in 1950 and 1990, India was once again central to the historic change underway in Nepal since 2005.

Nepal has been a big mess ever since the Maoists lost power in mid-2009 in what they saw as an India-mentored coup d’etat. Maoists regard India as enemy number one at least through their words and actions. New Delhi’s calculations about Maoists have gone terribly wrong, partly due to misreading their intentions and capability but mainly through inept diplomacy. Having first erred over their electoral success, India failed to engage the Maoists to wean them away from their anti-India stance. Instead it wrote off the Maoists as a bad job rather than helping their political transformation.

{Could the Maoists be ever India friendly? In that case they would call themselves something else na?}

One full year of the peace process was wasted supporting the Madhav Kumar Nepal (Maoists call him Madhav Kumar India)-led anti-Maoist coalition Government in the hope that Maoists would mend their ways without providing them with adequate political security and safeguards while risking a political transformation. They were engaged periodically by Indian intelligence rather than the political establishment. Mr Saran should have been appointed special envoy in 2009 to lock the Maoists in a sustained dialogue — backchannel as well as on Track 1 and 2. In public perception, India is seen to have played a negative role in destabilising the peace process it helped put in place.

Sanjiv Upadhyaya's recent book The Raj Lives on — India in Nepal has asserted that whoever rules Nepal has to secure India’s nod and keep its legitimate security concerns in mind. Every Prime Minister except Mr Pushpa Kamal Dahal has made India his first port of call. The Maoists have sought to ‘look beyond India’ and regain their sovereign space even if that means giving some of it to China.

Nepal has already survived one constitutional crisis — extending the longevity of the Constituent Assembly by one year beyond May 28. The once most promising peace process is deadlocked with a caretaker Government, five failed rounds of voting to elect a Prime Minister, a brewing financial crisis pending presentation of the Budget and growing controversy over the seventh extension to the United Nations Mission in Nepal whose term expires on September 15. Public disillusionment with the political parties over industrial and business stagnation is rising as Nepal becomes a flailing state, unable to bridge the trust deficit between the revolutionary romanticism of the Maoists and the democratic dogmas of the Opposition.

The last two years have generated lessons for all, most notably the Maoists and India. The Maoists have had to abandon the people’s war as power, they realised, could not be captured through a military solution. The ‘last battle’ fought in May this year from the streets through mass mobilisation was also lost, but this time due to lack of people’s support. On the other hand, the battle they have won most impressively is through the ballot when they were voted as the single largest party in elections to the Constituent Assembly. The message is clear: The route to political power is via multi-party democracy and not through power garb.

The lesson the Maoists must learn is that looking beyond India carries risks and costs and is not a viable option as King Birendra discovered unhappily in 1988-89 while importing arms clandestinely from China in violation of a gentleman’s agreement. It led to the fall of absolute monarchy and restoration of multi-party democracy. In the world of realpolitik, Maoists must lean to cohabit with India without becoming like the United Marxist-Leninist Party.

On its part, New Delhi has realised (one hopes) that the Maoists cannot be isolated and without them there is no peace process. The Maoists are the choice of the people and they cannot be ignored. India has to manage its relationship with the new political force in Nepal and help bring it back into the peace process through a power-sharing agreement. Similarly preventing them from forming a Government is not an option.

Time is running out and the growing political instability could spiral out of control. A high-level India-backed dialogue must be initiated to end the political impasse. Many Nepalis want India to reinvent the Delhi declaration for resumption of the political process, drafting the Constitution and integration of Maoist combatants with the security forces. A blueprint of a new comprehensive peace agreement has already been worked out by the non-Maoist political parties in Nepal. It requires some tweaking to ensure it is implementable in a time-bound, event-specific plan.

New Delhi’s awkward relations with Maoists should become a thing of the past. If India is unable or unwilling to broker a fresh peace agreement, it must allow a third country, say Norway and United Nations, to do so. Persisting with a stalemate is an invitation to disaster and hence inimical to India’s best interests in Nepal.