NEPAL AND BRITAIN
A Friend in Need
Thousands of miles away— Nepal could present an example of ‘ethical foreign policy’ that Tony Blair espoused while in office
By Bhagirath Yogi in London
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Blair: Man with mission |
As soon as British Prime Minister Tony Blair made announcement last week to step down from the post of leader of the ruling Labour Party and the government on June 27, British media, analysts and members of public found themselves debating over the legacy of the departing leader—who ruled the country for 10 long years from the 10 Downing Street.
“War cost Blair respect,” wrote Geoffrey Wheatcroft in the Financial Times, referring to the British premier’s role in wholeheartedly supporting the American-led incursion of Iraq in early 2003. Four years down the road, the country is still under flames and many Iraqis said their lives had become worse than under the regime of Saddam Hussein.
In a front-page commentary in The Guardian newspaper, Polly Toynbee-- a leading columnist—however, defended the performance of the charismatic leader while in office. She wrote, “Tony Blair is the supreme political interpreter of modern times…..Make no mistake, at home he leaves behind a country far better than he found it. Abroad Blairism was a noble ideal of liberal interventionism.”
Two years after being elected Prime Minister of Great Britain, Blair lobbied hard for sending ground troops – as part of NATO led military intervention of Serbia—to stop ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Kosovo. Addressing the Economic Club of Chicago in April 1999, he declared that “the most pressing foreign policy problem we face is to identify the circumstances in which we should get actively involved in other people’s conflicts.”
By pushing aside the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations, the military intervention in Kosovo was able to stop the ethnic conflict in former Yugoslavia and prepared ground for the United Nations’ peacekeeping operations. In 2000, British troops went to Sierra Leone and were instrumental in stopping a decade of violent conflict.
After 9/11, Britain emerged as the closest ally of the United States in its “War on Terror.” In 2001, US-led forces ousted the Taleban regime in Afghanistan though NATO-led forces are still fighting the Islamist fighters in the war-ridden country. In 2003, Blair joined hands with President Bush to oust Saddam Hussein – alleging him of possessing the weapons of mass destruction, which could not be corroborated later-- by ignoring popular opinion that was overwhelmingly against the war.
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Gordon Brown: Incoming Leader |
The Labour government has more than doubled the country’s Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) since 1997. When Britain hosted the G8 summit—the exclusive club of rich nations—Blair focused on aid, trade and Africa. He was able to persuade world leaders on 100 percent debt cancellation and an increase in global aid flows by 50 billion dollar a year by 2010.
In Nepal, Britain has been focusing on promoting human rights, rule of law and good governance as the means to improve lives of people. The Country Assistance Plan (CAP) of the Department for International Development (DFID) 2004-08 says (the UK) seeks to reduce poverty and social exclusion (in Nepal) establishing the basis for lasting peace.
Britain is the second largest bilateral donor to Nepal, after Japan. It has already announced to increase its annual aid to 43 million pounds in 2007-08 (up from around 33 million pounds in 2006-07). Besides, the British government has also announced a contribution of £13 million for Peace Trust Fund set up by the Nepal government and debt relief of £2.3 million for the year 2006-07.
In the wake of the Maoist insurgency, Britain called for negotiated settlement of the armed conflict and appointed Sir Jeffrey James as its special envoy to coordinate international efforts to restore peace in Nepal. After King Gyanendra took direct control of the government in February 2005; along with the US and India, UK stopped its military assistance to Nepal and continued to press for immediate return to multiparty democracy in the Himalayan kingdom.
In March 2005, Nepalese Foreign Ministry summoned then British ambassador to Nepal, Keith G. Bloomfield, for his critical remarks against the royal takeover. The British envoy had said on record: “The king’s move was a backward step in terms of democracy and restoring peace; it has made the process of negotiation (with the Maoists) much more difficult.”
Britain welcomed the restoration of parliament in April last year, after the successful People’s Movement II and has been pledging its unwavering support to the country’s peace process. While the US continues to treat Maoists as a `terrorist outfit,’ Britain seems to be flexible towards former rebels by allowing Maoist leaders to visit London over the past few months.
“Unlike the popular perception that US often looks at Nepal from Delhi’s eyes, Britain has been supporting Nepal’s efforts towards democratisation and poverty reduction in its own way,” said Dr. Surya Subedi, professor of International Law at the Leeds University, UK. “ Nepal should maintain close relations with UK since it has been passionately advocating in favour of poor countries like Nepal in the international arena,” he added.
Thousands of British tourists visit Nepal every year. British investors have invested in areas like tourism, infrastructure and services sector. Nepal government has entered into investment protection agreements with France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Gurkha recruitment in the British Army is nearly as old as the two centuries old relations between the two countries. Amid complaints of unequal treatment to Gurkha soldiers vis-a-vis their British counterparts in the British Army, the British government has made a number of decisions for the benefit of serving and ex-British Gurkha soldiers over the years. They include right to settlement for British-Gurkha soldiers and their families in the UK and announcement of ex-gratis payment of 10,000 pounds under the Gurkha Far Eastern Prisoner of War scheme. The British Home Office gave an immigration concession to ex-Gurkhas who retired after 1 July 1997 to allow those who had completed at least four years military service to count this towards the qualifying period for settlement in the United Kingdom.
“While various organisations of the ex-British Gurkhas are still campaigning for equal pension and other benefits for their members, it should not be forgotten that the British government has taken a number of important steps for the benefit of British Gurkha soldiers and their families over the last decade,” said Prof. Subedi.
“The relationship between the Brigade of Gurkhas and the British Army has always been one built on mutual trust and confidence. Nothing has been hidden and our Gurkhas have known from their first days of service what their terms and conditions of service would be. When there have been changes over the years, we have given extremely detailed briefings. The relationship within the Army is but a reflection of the long term relationship between our two nations. From where I sit our friendship remains as strong as ever,” wrote Andrew Hall, British ambassador to Nepal (The Kathmandu Post, March 30).
In a major foreign policy speech last year, Prime Minister Blair said globalisation begets interdependence and interdependence begets the necessity of a common value system to make it work. “Our values are our guide,” he declared.
As Tony Blair is all set to say good bye as the British premier, the values held close by him are being scrutinised closely. “Stopping butchery in Kosovo as well as in Sierra Leone won Tony Blair genuine applause,” wrote James Rubins, diplomatic correspondent of the BBC. “He coupled his own charisma and political power to the power of popular heroes led by Bob Geldof.”
Added Timothy Gordon Ash, another British commentator, “Take away Iraq and the record of the Blair government in foreign policy would be overwhelmingly positive.”
For Nepal, it would be a fitting tribute to consider Britain under Blair as a Friend in Need. Moreover, it is assumed that future policies of Gordon Brown-- who is widely believed to succeed Tony Blair-- would be more or less the continuity of his predecessor's policies in the international fora. He has, however, said he will give more emphasis on economic development and political reconciliation in Iraq.
(The author works with the BBC Nepali Service and can be reached at bhagirath.yogi@gmail.com)
