The UN and Nepal (UN Day special)
By Kamala Sarup
The United Nations (UN) is celebrating its 60th birthday this year. The UN annually
celebrates the International Day of Peace. This year, according to UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan, the UN's International Day of Peace "is
meant to be a day of global cease-fire, when all countries and all
people stop all hostilities for the entire day. And it is a day on
which people around the world observe a minute of silence at 12 noon
local time. Let us pledge to do our utmost to carry out the important
decisions on peace taken by last week's 2005 World Summit.
Founded by 51 Member countries on October 24, 1945 after the World War II, the organisation has grown through the years to include 191 member states. It is a
noble ideal to support all the actions undertaken by the UN to
accomplish its goals. Perhaps the most realistic role of the United
Nations is to serve as an inspiration and goad to collectively
strengthen, host and encourage all global and
non-proliferation efforts by member states.
In an article published in World Security Network, James M. B. Keyser,
states that the recent Nobel Peace Prize award to the International Atomic
Energy Agency and its chief, Mohammed El Baradei, is another reminder
of the vital role the UN possesses in the world today. UN is still taking a lead in Darfur. The WHO along with the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation are expected to take the lead in combating the Asian flu. Keyser insists that more effective United Nations is necessary for world security.
Of course, there has been strong criticism of the ‘infamous’ UN bureaucracy from far and wide. The New York Times published an op-ed piece on 26 September that called for
the abolition of both the UN Secretariat and the General Assembly. "We
must do away with the United Nations' governing structures and let the
agencies and programmes operate independently", it said.
Now, closer to our region. Enormous progress has been made in the Jammu-Kashmir negotiations in the last 18 months. All parties, including China, which has not
interfered, need to be congratulated. India and Pakistan are to be
congratulated and further encouraged to continue this process while
dealing with tragic effects of the recent massive earthquake that hit the Jammu-Kashmir area. It is also worthy to note that there has
been very significant progress in cleaning up the border demarcation area in the
aftermath of the Sino-Indian conflict of 1962.
Various analysts have also pointed out that there is at least potential for such international terrorist groups as al Qaeda to use a "northern corridor" stretching from the west . This route was, and
probably still is, used by various drug-smuggling groups. The fear is
that al Qaeda or other terrorists groups will use the same
route to eventually smuggle nuclear material for use against the West,
financing their activities with these same drug-smuggling activities
along the way. Nepal also falls along this route.
As far as promoting world peace is concerned, Nepal
can offer an ancient societal wisdom-base and the experience of being
between two much larger countries, China and India. Fortunately,
except for a fanatical few, Nepal is not under self-delusion. Nepal
has always taken the long view of contributing to the well-being of
the world through sharing the results of its long spiritual journey
and its wisdom and peace. It is an exciting time to be a citizen of
Nepal.
India and China, as Nepal's biggest neighbors, have a stake in how
the problem of long-running Maoist rebellion is resolved in the Himalayan kingdom. As Nepal's closest neighbors, both are naturally very concerned with the conflict close to their sensitive, international borders.
While neighbours and Nepal’s international friends have their role to play in helping Nepal to return towards peace and democracy, the UN is best suited to help her in resolving conflict as well as in the post-conflict rehabilitation and reconstruction.
A US-based research scholar, Kamala Sarup can be reached at ksarup@yahoo.com
(Editor’s Note: Nepalis, wherever they live, as well as friends of Nepal around the globe are requested to contribute their views/opinions/recollections etc. on issues concerning present day Nepal to the Guest Column of Nepalnews. Length of the article should not be more than 1,000 words and may be edited for the purpose of clarity and space. Relevant photos as well as photo of the author may also be sent along with the article. Please send your write-ups to editors@mos.com.np and your comments/suggestions to feedback@mos.com.np)
