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Kathmandu Friday August 17, 2001 Bhadra 01, 2058.
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Significant visit
Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh’s
visit here beginning today is quite significant in that it comes at a time when relations
between the two countries need some mending. The timing of the visit is no less
significant with India, according to reports, unilaterally serving notice to Nepal that
the trade treaty between the two countries will be terminated instead of being
automatically renewed in December. The industry and trade sector in this country will no
doubt be hit hard by this Indian move which has come as a surprise since the two sides
were to meet again to thrash out differences, if any, over the export of some five
particular items from Nepal. That these exports are minuscule in proportion to the total
demand of the Indian market needs no reiteration here. But India appears to be bent on
imposing its own version of "surge" which Nepal and the Nepalese business
community can hardly go along with.
But trade treaty is just one of the many
issues that demand the immediate attention of both the Nepalese and Indian governments.
The question of review and revision of the 1950 treaty between the two countries has been
in cold storage for a long time. Leaders in both countries seem to be merely pacifying the
Nepalese people who have been demanding revision from time to time, the latest instance
being during the official visit to India of then Prime Minister GP Koirala. The foreign
secretaries of the two countries entrusted with the task of studying and suggesting a
possible revision have, as was long expected, failed to deliver. Nor will anything
concrete come out of joint meetings at the official level since the matter is an entirely
political one. Nepal cannot also forget the Kalapani issue, which, if leaders are ever to
be believed, was supposed to be solved through the survey department bureaucrats of the
two countries sitting together. In addition, there is the question of regulation of the
Nepal-India border which remains unresolved. In fact, it is worth mentioning that once
this border is regulated, the citizenship issue that has been plaguing successive
governments in Nepal will become easier to solve. There is also the problem of over one
hundred thousand Bhutanese refugees who are languishing in camps in eastern Nepal. There
is a general belief among all sections of the population in Nepal as well as among the
refugees themselves that India’s good offices in this regard can go a long way in
expediting a solution to the problem and bringing about their return home in dignity.
More recently, the dams and embankments built in India near
the Nepal-India border have caused no end of worry in Nepal. The latest one coming up near
Lumbini has given rise to fears that the birthplace of Lord Buddha could become submerged
during the rainy season. While some Indian officials like to dismiss these as
"local" issues, they have a direct bearing on the whole nation and cause
needless friction between the two countries. Though the coming of Jaswant Singh, who
doubles as defence minister, is being billed as a "goodwill visit", it is in the
interest of both countries to take up and address these problems and issues that
frequently bedevil relations between the friendly neighbouring countries. We are confident
that Mr Singh’s visit will help India realise how important it is to understand
Nepal’s sensitivities. For this and for the fact that it will provide him with an
opportunity to get to know at first hand the new Nepalese leadership, the visit should be
termed an important one.
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