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Kathmandu Thursday March 08, 2001 Falgun 25, 2057.
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PM Koirala
fails to win priority status
Jospin held talks on Tuesday at the
latter’s Matignon Palace offices here, but sources indicated that Nepal failed to
convince the French to uncork priority development funds - Koirala’s stated aim
before departing for a four-day official visit of France.
Though Koirala said the meeting with his host
was "a satisfactory one," he did not elaborate. He remained tight-lipped when
asked for further details. But sources within his entourage as well as French officials
have both indicated that Nepal will not feature in the priority list of French aid
recipient countries.
Meanwhile, the French news agency AFP, in a
news dispatch from Paris, also said: "Koirala had met his French counterpart Lionel
Jospin but apparently failed in a bid to have his country added to a list of priority
French aid recipients."
Koirala, the first elected Nepali Prime
Minister to visit France and the first government chief from the Himalayan kingdom to come
in 151 years, made no statement on leaving Jospin’s Matignon palace, said AFP.
Later in the day, PM Koirala addressed the
French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) where he made a pitch on behalf of
landlocked and Least Developed Countries (LDCs). He said such nations require special
consideration to augment their resources and build institutional ability in order to bring
them into mainstream of international development.
"Liberalization, free trade and
globalization have created such a forceful wave that many countries have become vulnerable
to the shocks of the international economy," he said. "Their capacity to
withstand and respond to the swings of international situation is rather limited," he
added. "Therefore, Nepal has called for a new financial architecture that could give
due consideration to the plights of the developing countries..."
Fielding questions from reporters, PM
Koirala, Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola and Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat made
Nepal’s position clear on delicate issues like the Maoist insurgency, Bhutanese
refugees and the cooperation among SAARC neighbours.
"We have been sending our peacekeeping
forces under the umbrella of UN. But unfortunately, Nepal is facing a big challenge at its
own backyard," Koirala said.
However, he explained the government is
trying to hold dialogue with the rebels, as well as take development packages to the
insurgency-hit areas. "We don’t know their demand," Koirala said. "Our
door is always open for talks and we’re patiently waiting them to come to the
table."
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Mahat,
underlining French being one of the prominent tourists coming to Nepal every year
expressed the necessity to extend the relations beyond tourism. "There are so many
fields that France could lend its support to Nepal," he said. "France has been
little shy of providing assistance beyond Francophone countries. However, we’re
hopeful that the situation will improve in the coming days."
Foreign Minister Bastola, giving account of
the Bhutanese refugee issue said the preparation to verify the identity of the refugees is
on process following the 10th round of ministerial level talks with the Bhutanese
delegates last December in Kathmandu.
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