Bharat Rakshak

India-Nepal ties, which had been damaged by Nepal Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli’s jingoism (read this), is finally set for a course correction with Kathmandu initiating conciliatory measures.

A number of high-level exchanges between the two countries are being scheduled after Oli jettisoned the anti-India stance he had adopted to stave off a grave political crisis within his Nepal Communist Party (NCP).

Oli broke the ice by placing a call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Independence Day (15 August). This call was preceded by a tweet by Oli greeting Modi and the people of India on the eve of Independence Day.

During the 15-minute call, the two premiers discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties. Modi underlined the deep civilisational ties between the two countries and urged Oli to strengthen those ties.

Oli’s overtures were quickly followed two days later by talks between India’s Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Kwatra and Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi. The two discussed the status of the India-aided development projects in the Himalayan country and decided to fast-pace those projects.

Since then, at Oli’s insistence, officials in Nepal’s Foreign Ministry and others have established contact with India and have been urging New Delhi to sit for talks over various issues with Nepal.

Nepal PM Oli's party, has launched a Greater Nepal campaign in association with the Unified Nepal National Front claiming many cities in Himachal, UP, Bihar and Sikkim including Dehradun, Nainital in Uttarakhand as part of Greater Nepal (AajTak)

Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli was at the centre of a new controversy Saturday following the use of the country’s old map in his Vijaya Dashami greeting card which had the national emblem and his portrait printed on it.

Following escalation of the boundary dispute with India this summer, Nepal published a new map to include areas of the Indian state of Uttarakhand.

The Opposition criticised him for using the old map in the card, saying he was trying to “backtrack on the issue, undermining the spirit behind the national consensus on the territorial issue”.

Surya Thapa, the PM’s press advisor, said the map in the greeting card was the new one, but because of its small size, the new areas were not visible.

Six weeks ago, Oli had ordered withdrawal of school textbooks that had included the new map. India and Nepal are trying to mend ties, severely strained after Nepal published its new map.

Earlier this week, Oli had a long meeting with Indian R&AW chief Samant Kumar Goel, and his own party leaders were furious that he did not keep them in the loop. Indian Army chief General MM Naravane is scheduled to visit Nepal next month.

New Delhi: China has illegally occupied Nepal`s land at several places spreading over seven bordering districts and Indian intelligence agencies have sounded an alert in New Delhi.

The agencies have flagged that Beijing is fast moving forward and further pushing Nepali boundaries by encroaching more and more landmass. "The actual scenario could be worse as the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) is trying to shield the expansionist agenda of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)," an internal intelligence agency report pointed out.

It stated that Nepali districts which are victims of China`s land-grabbing plan include Dolakha, Gorkha, Darchula, Humla, Sindhupalchowk, Sankhuwasabha and Rasuwa.

China has pushed the international boundary 1,500 metres towards Nepal in Dolakha including pushing the boundary pillar Number 57 in the Korlang area in Dolakha, which was previously located at top of Korlang.

Dilbu wrote:This is significant in the backdrop of upcoming visit of Indian Army chief to Nepal.
China illegally occupies Nepal's land at several places; Indian intelligence agencies sound alert

New Delhi: China has illegally occupied Nepal`s land at several places spreading over seven bordering districts and Indian intelligence agencies have sounded an alert in New Delhi.

The agencies have flagged that Beijing is fast moving forward and further pushing Nepali boundaries by encroaching more and more landmass. "The actual scenario could be worse as the Nepali Communist Party (NCP) is trying to shield the expansionist agenda of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)," an internal intelligence agency report pointed out.

It stated that Nepali districts which are victims of China`s land-grabbing plan include Dolakha, Gorkha, Darchula, Humla, Sindhupalchowk, Sankhuwasabha and Rasuwa.

China has pushed the international boundary 1,500 metres towards Nepal in Dolakha including pushing the boundary pillar Number 57 in the Korlang area in Dolakha, which was previously located at top of Korlang.

This is a very cryptic message from NSA. This can point even to Nepal or Bhutan in addition to TSP and China.
Will fight on our soil as well as on foreign soil, says Ajit Doval

According to the news report, Chinese troops crossed the border into the Limi Valley and Hilsa in the north-western district of Humla. They moved stone pillars that had been erected earlier to demarcate the border between the two countries. Subsequently, the PLA has allegedly constructed military structures on the encroached territory, the news report added. Chinese personnel also allegedly moved the pillars further into Nepalese territory in Gorkha district.

Kathmandu: Indian Army Chief Gen MM Naravane arrived in Nepal on Wednesday on a three-day crucial visit that is largely aimed at resetting the bilateral ties that came under severe strain following a bitter border row between the two countries.

Gen Naravane is visiting Nepal at the official invitation of Nepal Army chief Gen Purna Chandra Thapa.

Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane presented medical equipment to the Nepali Army including X-Ray machines, computed radiography systems, ICU ventilators, video endoscopy units, anesthesia machines, laboratory equipment and ambulances, the Indian Embassy in Nepal said in a statement on Thursday.

On Thursday, Naravane laid a wreath and paid homage at Bir Smarak (Martyr’s Memorial) at the Army Pavilion in Tundikhel, Kathmandu. He was later accorded a ceremonial Guard of Honour at the Nepali Army Headquarters where he held talks with his counterpart General Purna Chandra Thapa.

Both sides discussed army-to-army relations and enhancing bilateral defence cooperation, the statement said.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla will travel to Kathmandu later this month for formal dialogue between the two countries, a sign that New Delhi is willing to go an extra mile to improve bilateral ties that had nosedived earlier this year, people familiar with the matter said.

The decision to send the foreign secretary comes days after Army Chief General MM Naravane was conferred the honorary rank of general of Nepali Army. Gen Naravane had met Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on this visit who had underscored that the two countries could resolve all problems between them through dialogue since India and Nepal have a long-standing special relationship.

KP Sharma Oli had faced resistance within his cabinet to Gen Naravane’s visit but had dealt with it, withdrawing the defence portfolio from deputy prime minister Ishwar Pokhrel.

“Our aim is to reestablish the monarchy and a Hindu state in Nepal. We will gather support from the streets and also push for a referendum based on the 2015 constitution via winning the next general election,” Wagle said. The protesters are carrying flags and placards of Prithvi Narayan Shah, the founder of modern Nepal. They demand the restoration of the Hindu Monarchy for the ‘sake of the country’s national unity and well-being of the people’.

Beijing had deputed its envoy to Nepal Hou Yanqi to hold a series of meetings in late April and early May - around the same time that China’s soldiers were crossing the line in east Ladakh - to hold consultations with Nepal’s communist leaders to get them to stay united.

Ambassador Hou continued her interventions to keep the NCP in one piece over the next few months. But PM Oli’s camp soon enough figured that China was okay with ruling NCP giving PM Oli the pink slip if this is what it would take to avoid a split in the party.

PM Oli, who had spent 14 years in jail for opposing the now-abolished monarchy in the 1970s and 1980s, wasn’t ready to fade into oblivion yet.

Nepal watchers said China, which initially seemed to back 68-year-old Oli, had changed tack earlier this year and was willing to sacrifice him if it would help keep the NCP united.

Ambassador Hou Yanqi was working on this pitch when last month, PM Oli is believed to have told her off, suggesting that he is capable of handling challenges within his party without any assistance from other countries.

The Chinese envoy didn’t exactly back off but her subsequent interventions were done quietly. When meeting politicians from the ruling party, she would move around in unmarked cars or taxis in Kathmandu, said a Nepal watcher.

“There were two other formulas that the Chinese envoy continued to work on,” a person who tracks developments in Nepal politics said. Apart from negotiating a format where the NCP’s former prime minister Dahal and Madhav Nepal hold the strings of power minus PM Oli, Ambassador Hou also explored the possibility of the NCP shunting out PM Oli and promoting Deputy Prime Minister Bamdev Gautam instead.

Since Bamdev Gautam comes from the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) that PM Oli headed before the 2018 merger, it was expected that this would minimise the damage that PM Oli could wreak on the party in case of a split. The fourth option that the Chinese envoy did explore was the possibility that the senior leadership of the NCP let the next generation leaders of the party who would be more amenable to a negotiated settlement take charge, a Nepal watcher said.

arvin wrote:Biplab deb had floated a trial balloon in feb. Things may start rolling after 2024.

https://www.financialexpress.com/india- ... y/2196281/

The $500 million grant that Nepal and US signed in late 2017 has been in a limbo as the Parliament has failed to endorse it as recommended by the Ministry of law. While Deuba has assured MCC and taken a public position to have it endorsed by Parliament by end of this month, the two left coalition partners have said certain provisions of the deal directly undermine the sovereignty of the country and its “non-aligned” foreign policy.

In early 2007, a two-hour closed-door meeting took place among Bhutan’s king Jigme Singye Wangchuck, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister Mukherjee. Crown Prince Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck was present during the entire discussion. Though his father had already abdicated, he was crowned only on November 1, 2008.

India was not keen to revisit the treaty, but the King insisted. Mukherjee told the King: “We are vitally interested in preserving the concept of the joint security of India and Bhutan being common and indivisible.” Both Singh and Mukherjee urged the King to reconsider revising the treaty, but he did not budge.

Instead, the King presented a draft treaty in which “common security” was central and contained in Article 2 of the treaty: “Both countries will cooperate closely in issues relating to national interest.” The operative part was “neither government shall allow the use of its territory for activities harmful to the national security and interest of the other.”

The King is the ‘sanctum sanctorum’ in Bhutan. There is no defence minister; de facto the King is. The Major-General in charge of the Indian Military Training Assistance Team (IMTRAT) is the King’s military adviser, although the tiny Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) as a Lieutenant-General as its Commander.


The King is believed to have done some loud thinking with his Indian military adviser about inviting Indian troops other than the 1,000 or so Indian soldiers deployed with IMTRAT.

The Indian Army units, which are to be deployed in the event of an emergency, have not visited their operational areas, except for their commanders. Skeletal troop movement for operational training is kept below the radar; so is the visibility of the Medical Assistance Mission, which is acknowledged by the Bhutanese as a key asset.


Still, the Bhutanese youth resent the presence of the Indian troops on their soil even as business houses want diplomatic relations with China, which has exploited this chink, especially after the Indian intervention at Doklam. Bhutan fears China.

In June 2017, PLA Engineer units constructing a road in the Chumbi valley from Yatung, extending across the Doklam plateau towards the Jampheri Ridge while approaching the disputed trijunction of Gymochen, were intercepted at Doklam by 8 JAK LI deployed on the Doka La post. Disputed between Bhutan and China, Doklam poses a direct threat to the Siliguri corridor. The Indian intervention at Doklam was consequent to invoking Article 2 of the revised 2007 treaty. The RBA deployed on their post at the Jampheri Ridge did not join hands with the Indian soldiers who held the line for 72 days, till the disengagement on August 27.

But the bigger question is: If the PLA crosses India’s red-lines in Bhutan, would K5, the fifth King, Khesar who did the 45th NDC course in New Delhi in 2005, invite the Indian troops for assistance? And if not, would the Indian troops unilaterally intervene, as they probably did in Doklam, invoking Article 2?

Cyrano wrote:Manmohan's blunders can only be matched with those of Nehru. But they are not blunders... the CCP/INC MoU will have to be exposed and made public to unravel the truth.