SAARC Summit on Jan 4-6
Pakistan lacks commitment on economic agenda:India

By Damakant Jayshi

KATHMANDU, July 10 : All the seven member countries of the SAARC today agreed to hold the postponed 12th Summit in Pakistan on January 4-6 next year, with the preceding meetings beginning at the end of December this year.

According to Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Madhu Raman Acharya, who chaired the two-day SAARC 4th Special Session of the Standing Committee of foreign secretaries that concluded today, the dates proposed by Pakistan were agreed to by all the member states. "There was consensus on the dates proposed by Pakistan. The Summit will be preceded by meetings of the Council of Ministers comprising of foreign ministers and members of the Standing Committee and Programming Committee."

The Summit, to be held in Islamabad in January this year, was postponed by Pakistan after India and Bhutan failed to agree to the dates proposed within the stipulated time given by Pakistan.

Replying to a question, the foreign secretary said that all the member states would participate in the Summit. He added that the SAARC Secretary General has been given more flexibility in fixing the dates for most meetings, except the Summit-related ones.

Acharya also said that the Standing Committee reached consensus on almost every item of the agenda that the committee thought of covering, adding that the outcome of the meeting has been "satisfactory".

Giving details of the two-day discussions, Acharya said that the foreign secretaries discussed terrorism, economic issues including SAARC Preferential Trade Arrangement (SAPTA) and South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), poverty alleviation measures, social development, SAARC common position on global issues including that on WTO. The meet also recommended the reconstitution of the seven technical committees. The Standing Committee also approved the report of the Preparatory Committee of joint secretaries.

On terrorism, the Standing Committee failed to adopt Sri Lanka’s proposal on additional protocol to SAARC Regional Convention on Suppression of Terrorism, saying that "discussions on it will continue in Colombo later this year".

"The foreign secretaries reiterated the urgency to accelerate economic co-operation.In view of this, the SAFTA draft treaty would be finalised before the next Summit," said Acharya.

Stating that the Standing Committee was not satisfied with the fourth round of negotiations on SAPTA, he said, "It has recommended holding the fifth round aimed at more tariff liberalisation and the discussions would be held simultaneously along with the expert group’s on SAFTA".

The Standing Committee also recommended the formation of specialised working groups on information and communications technology, biotechnology, intellectual property rights, tourism, and energy. Similarly, it also recommended the reconstitution of the seven technical committees on agricultural and rural development; health and population; women, youth and children; environment and forestry; science and technology; human resources development and transport.

Another decision taken by the Standing Committee was that the meeting of the expert group to finalise the Social Charter would be held in Kathmandu, in September.

The foreign secretaries also decided to make an increment in the annual budget of SAARC but Acharya declined to reveal the amount. Nepal’s contribution in the new budget is Rs seven million.

Acharya held bilateral negotiations with his Bangladeshi counterpart, Shamsher Mahmud Chaudhary, and urged him to operationalise its Banglaband transit point and also allow Nepal to transit its goods in the port of Mongala free of duty, said a foreign ministry official. Bangladesh has promised to look into the matter.

Meanwhile, Acharya is holding bilateral talks with Indian and Pakistan foreign secretaries tomorrow. The latter duo met Nepal’s Prime Minister separately today, according to Nepali officials.

India watching ‘internal situation of Nepal’

Earlier today, India’s Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal said that India has been "very keenly following the internal situation" in Nepal.

"Any perspective that can be given to us is most welcome," said Sibal, speaking at a press conference after the Standing Committee meeting. He expressed the wish that problems currently being faced by Nepal are overcome, adding "what we can do, we will do, without interfering in the internal affairs of Nepal".

Speaking about the slow progress of SAARC on economic co-operation, the foreign secretary accused Pakistan of "lack of commitment to the economic agenda of SAARC". Responding to a question, he emphasised that it was Pakistan, and not India, which was responsible for deterioration of relations between the countries.

He also reiterated India’s position on holding bilateral talks with Pakistan, saying that cross-border infiltration must stop before bilateral negotiations could be held.

HM opens polio eradication camp

RSS

KATHMANDU, July 10 : His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev initiated the free polio eradication camp run by Agrawal Service Centre, Kamalpokhari today.

His Majesty the King made an inspection of the Agrawal Service Centre building on the occasion.

Her Majesty Queen Komal Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah was present on the occasion.

His Majesty the King was presented a letter of felicitation by chairman of the centre Mohangopal Khetan on behalf of the Marwadi community.

The building was constructed at a total cost of Rs 10 million with the financial contributions of 396 founder members. The free polio eradication camp is run under Dr SS Jha of Patna , India.

On the occasion, Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sarbendranath Shukla commended the role played by Marwadi community in the development of education, health and religious awareness.

Chairman of the centre Khetan said the monarchy is the symbol of national unity of the country. There is the need to forward the country in the path of development maintaining an environment of law and order, he added.

Member Secretary of the Pashupati Area Development Trust Basant Kumar Chaudhary said the Marwadi community is always devoted to the nation and the monarchy.

On the occasion, vice chairman of the centre Chiranjibilal Agrawal and Kamalesh Kumar Agrawal and Mohan Priya Acharya also spoke of the Marwadi community.

Women family of the Marwadi community presented welcome song on the occasion.

Enhanced bilateral trade; Nepal conduit to Tibet’s developments

By Milan Mani Sharma

KATHMANDU, July 10 : With an aim to reduce export dependency on India and diversify export markets, the government is all set to formally approach China for duty free market access and other trade facilities to Nepali exports to China, including the Autonomous Region of Tibet.

"A formal discussion on the issues will be held shortly with the government and officials concerned at the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu," said a government source, further stating that it is expected to pave ways for talks at the appropriate level, including political level.

This is regarded as a major breakthrough, as the concerned traders and experts had long been urging the government to seek tariff concessions from China to provide impetus to Nepal’s trade with its northern neighbour.

To date, the issue was discussed at informal level only. "Nonetheless, China has been maintaining a positive tone on the matter," said the source. A Chinese Embassy official concerned with the initiative, while talking to The Kathmandu Post recently, also expressed similar views.

"China is ready to enter into a new arrangement to boost trade with Nepal. But it can be worked out only when Nepal formally approaches the concerned Chinese authorities for discussing the issues at the appropriate level," said Qiang He, Third Secretary, Economic and Commercial Office, Chinese Embassy.

China has been liberal to promote bilateral trade of late. Apart from the existing four functional trade points, China is for opening four more customs checkpoints with Nepal. In addition, the northern neighbour has also shown eagerness in developing necessary infrastructures to link the two countries.

The government official also expressed optimism that China would pledge zero tariff facility to maintain strategic balance, as Nepal has been enjoying similar trade arrangement with India.

Nepal has bilateral trade agreement with China since 1981. The treaty is being automatically renewed every three years with no proposal for reviewing coming from either governments. In fact, the two governments have never sat down together and assessed its impacts since the time of signing the bilateral treaty.

However, Nepal has been short in registering significant trade with China while inflow of Chinese goods has soared drastically over the years, to the effect that Nepal has experienced a trade deficit of over Rs 8 billion with China in 2002 alone.

"With China providing duty-free market access, Nepali products would capture Tibetan and other markets in China, thereby helping reduce the widening trade gap," said Pradeep Kumar Shrestha, former president of Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

He further noted that the Nepal-China NGO Forum, which has representation from the government and private sector, had already formally raised the issue in 1998. "However, the initiatives lost momentum after the Chinese counterpart raised the issue of possible reciprocity from Nepal," he said.

Referring to the matter, Qiang He, indicated a change in China’s stance of late. "We do not expect anything in return from Nepal when it comes to sincerely promoting trade and investment between our two countries," he said.

"In fact, China has prompted its private sector and province-level agencies to invest more in Nepal," he pointed.

Various studies have shown that supply of construction materials and consumer goods to Tibet is more feasible from Nepal than Mainland China. "This would, in fact, rather help the Chinese government reduce its liabilities, as it has been providing high subsidies in commodities being supplied to Tibet," states an FNCCI study.

Owing to geographical proximity and financial factors, even the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has identified Nepal as a strategic transit facilitator to Tibet’s development thrusts.

"In this connection, providing special provisions for Nepali exports is decisive to make this concept work," said Professor Dr Pushkar Bajracharya. This is also crucial in expanding trade with Mainland China, as 40 per cent duty on Nepali exports and the distance factor have been eroding competitiveness of Nepali products in the Chinese market, he added.

Moreover, the FNCCI study reckoned that duty-free access to Nepali products would help boost Chinese investment in Nepal. "As Nepal, on account of being a least developed country, enjoys duty-free market access with India and also the EU, China can benefit equally by investing here while also opening its market to Nepal," the same report reveals.

Seven dead, four missing in fresh floods, mudslides
48 killed, 1,143 families affected till date: Home Ministry

Post Report

KATHMANDU, July 10 : At least 10 people were confirmed dead in separate incidents of landslide and flood in Myagdi, Tanahun, Dhanusha, Dang and Kanchanpur districts, and four others are reported missing in a remote village of Udayapur district in the past 12 hours, according to reports.

The Home Ministry today said that 48 people were killed and more than 1,140 families were affected across the country since the onset of the rainy season. Property worth Rs. 20 million was also damaged in 21 districts, according to the Natural Disaster Relief Division at the ministry.

Reports pouring in from across the country state that floods and landslides caused by torrential rains in the past few days have also washed away farmlands and dozens of houses and damaged highways, water pipelines and other infrastructures in many places.

A report from Udayapur has it that four people of a single family were unaccounted for after a heavy landslide buried their house and a dozen others in Katunje-Babala Village Development Committee (VDC) yesterday afternoon. Former chairman of the VDC Jaya Krishna Rai said that the landslide washed away the entire Lamidanda village.

Those who are missing in the incident have been identified as Sammar Bahadur Rai, 28, his four-year-old son Navin and two sisters – Sinja, 10, and Chandrakala, 8.

Villagers said that they were rendered homeless after the landslide swept through their village, located about one and a half days’ walking distance east of Gaighat, the district headquarters. They said that the mudslide has also blocked the natural flow of Sisuwa Khola, which would create more havoc downstream in case it bursts out all of a sudden. Villagers said that the river has remained blocked for the last 26 hours. The District Police Office said a team of policemen had been sent to the area to carry out rescue operation.

A report from Tanahun said three people of a family were buried in Gairakhudi of Kanhun-Shivapur VDC early this morning. According to locals, those who perished in the mudslide have been identified as Buddhi Bahadur Rana, 28, his wife Shir Kala, 30, and two-year-old daughter Kali Maya. The villagers rescued another seven-year-old daughter of theirs from the rubble. Another man, known as Prem Bahadur Karki, drowned in a flooded river in Kyamin VDC. Police said that around 30 families have become homeless in floods and landslides in many parts of the district.

In Myagdi, two children of a family were buried to death and their parents were injured when a landslide buried their house in Kunhu VDC. Six-year-old Devi Gharti and Prem Gharti, 2, the children of Dambar Gharti, were buried last night.

Kunhu VDC secretary Ganesh Bahadur Rokka said that eight families have fled their homes to safety after the slope of a nearby hill began sliding.

Police in Dhanusha said that a 12-year-old-girl of Barmajhiya village drowned in the flooded Kamala River, and another girl has gone missing since yesterday.

A report from Jhapa has it that drinking water supply from half a dozen projects has been paralysed after floods in many rivers damaged water pipelines in many places.

Officials at the Jhapa District Drinking Water Office said around 55,000 consumers have been deprived of drinking water supply and floods have also damaged property worth Rs. 3.5 million.

Binod Chandra Jha, chief of the office, said that floods have severely damaged the Dhulabari, Budhbare and Khudunabari Drinking Water Projects. He said it would be difficult to repair the damaged infrastructure before the monsoon subsides.

In Syangja, electricity supply to many villages of this district have been disrupted after floods and mudslides damaged many electric poles, and drinking water supply in the Putalibazar Municipality has been cut off.

Our reporter in Dhangadi quotes the police in Achham as saying that the heavily flooded Budhi Ganga River has been breaching the runway of the airport at Sanfebagar.

Mahesh Chandra Regmi, Nepal’s quiet crusader calls it a day

By Ameet Dhakal

KATHMANDU, July 10 : Economic historian Mahesh Chandra Regmi passed away this morning, leaving behind his immense corpus of serious inquires that will keep him alive well into the future.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award winner mostly operated quietly inside his one-room office, away from publicity, and carried out his research works for more than four decades. Fittingly enough, death came to him quietly at one in the morning, and only a few relatives and family friends attended his funeral. Regmi is survived by his wife, four sons and a daughter.

If, as they say, the goal of all life is death, Regmi pursued that goal to the end. However, until only a week ago, frail as he was, Regmi was insisting on completing his 15th book, not realising that he would soon lose his fight against Parkinson’s disease. In fact, he never gave in to the disease that has no medical cure yet. He fell in 1999 and his hip joint dislocated, and had been wheel-chair-bound since then. But even after the accident, he wrote a 314-page-long tome, Nepal: A Historical Miscellany.

He left another incomplete book—and the only book he was writing in Nepali language—as he passed away.

Regmi did pioneering research, mainly in the areas of land tenure and taxation. "He tried to analyse the evolution of Nepali society through research into landholding and taxation," said Dr. Prayag Raj Sharma, a historian and close friend. Before his seminal works, history in Nepal had been analysed only through the political lens and written only from the perspective of kings and their reigns. It was Regmi who chose to write the history of the people and their economic and social sufferings, said Sharma.

Born to a family of musicians in 1929, Regmi, however, found rhythm in books. He was a candidate for the then Matriculation Examinations at the tender age of 10 and, as expected, failed in his first attempt. As luck would have it, he stood board second in his second endeavour. After obtaining BA honours from Patna, India, he briefly tried his luck in business of books and textiles in Calcutta.

Regmi came back to Nepal in the early 1950s and joined the government as a deputy director at the Department of Industry, only to be unceremoniously dismissed shortly thereafter. He vowed not take up any job—private or public.

A major turning point came to the life of this pioneering researcher in 1957 when Frank J Moore, an American researcher, asked him to translate a book, Nepalko Audhyogig Sambhabana (Industrial Potential of Nepal). Impressed with his work, Moore asked him to work for USAID in the area of research. Instead, he opted to publish Nepal Press Digest independently that covered analysis of the government’s decisions, changes in political and economic scenarios and Nepal’s foreign relations. His works gained instant popularity in the West. The University of California at Berkeley, USA, offered funding for his research projects.

He decided to research in the area of landholding and taxation since it was a virgin area.

In between 1963 and 1968, he produced four series. Then came the Regmi Research Series for the next 20 years.

Many historians, national and foreign, have done researches in Nepal. But it is only in Regmi’s works that you will find stunning revelations. Such as the late Prithvi Narayan Shah used to get only one-fourth of a rupee for his pocket money. Or, the royal proclamation of 1840 asked the people to drink water only after boiling to kill the bacteria in it—that was long before Louis Pasteaur had researched water-borne diseases.

A major recognition to his works came in 1977 when he received Ramon Magsaysay Award, dubbed Asia’s Nobel Prize..

He, however, didn’t work day and night to earn all this honour. In fact, he had a unique working habit. He would begin his working day exactly at 10: 30 in the morning and work upto four in the evening. "He never worked more or less than that," says Rabish Chandra Regmi, his younger brother who assisted him in his research works and personal life for more than 18 years. He used to take a walk of an hour and a half every morning and evening.

His meritorious contributions were, unfortunately, never recognised by the state. Regmi was never conferred with any medals, nor received any awards, prizes or state honours. This itself sounds embarrassing, given the fact that the state habitually confers hundreds of people with medals for their "noble works" every year.

Neither do Nepalis seem to have learnt from Regmi’s research findings to change our feudal land system. Perhaps Hegel, the German philosopher, was right when he wrote, "What experience and history teach us is that people and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it." In that case, Regmi’s anticipated era of human, social, political and economic equity is yet to begin in Nepal.

‘Abducted’ girl child handed over to mother

Post Report

KATHMANDU, July 10 : Nepal Children’s Organisation (NCO), a government-run child-care centre, handed over a three-and-half-year old girl child who was referred to the NCO by the Royal Nepal Army last year, to her mother today.

The child, Prerana (who was named Sandesha Nepal at the NCO), was handed over to her mother, Sharada Koirala, amidst a function held at the central office of NCO, Naxal.

According to Koirala, army personnel of the Barda Bahadur Battalion July last year had taken Prerana from a neighbour’s house in Sourpani village development committee of Gorkha, while they were searching for Koirala who was a member of the All Nepal Women’s Association (Revolutionary), a sister organisation of the underground CPN (Maoist). The RNA had later handed over the child to the NCO.

The child’s family claimed that the minor was abducted by the army after they could not catch Koirala, alleging her of being a "terrorist". The security forces, however, have refuted the charges.

Koirala had come to the capital two weeks ago to search for her daughter and she was able to trace Prerana after holding a press conference on June 26.

US statement reiteration of refugees’ concern: Nepal
Bhutan prefers to remain tightlipped over developments

Post Report

KATHMANDU, July 10 : A day after the US ambassador to Nepal expressed his dismay over the tardy progress in the repatriation of the Bhutanese refugees from the Khudunabari camp, Nepal and Bhutan discussed the US statement during their bilateral meet, held on the sidelines of the SAARC Standing Committee meeting here today.

"We raised the issue with the Bhutanese officials today during our meeting," said Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Madhu Raman Acharya. He added that the issue would be taken up during the next foreign ministers’-level meeting in Thimphu in August.

The ambassador had pointed out inconsistencies in the JVT report published on June 18 in the camp in Jhapa and asked the two countries to "re-examine" the JVT report. One example of such inconsistencies is that while parents have been labelled non-Bhutanese, their children have been found eligible to return to Bhutan and re-apply for citizenship.

Malinowski had also strongly called for the involvement of the UNHCR in the repatriation process, so as to facilitate the reintegration of the refugees in Bhutan and promised US assistance for the same through the UN body.

When reminded that the envoy had also issued a veiled criticism of Nepal, Acharya said, "I think what they are reiterating...is the concerns of the refugees which we are also reiterating."

Meanwhile, Bhutan’s officiating Foreign Secretary S T Rabgye declined to make any comment when The Kathmandu Post approached him for his reaction to the US statement. "No comments," said Rabgye, although he admitted that he had read the reports in newspapers.

The refugee leaders, on the other hand, were upbeat. R B Basnet, president of Bhutan National Democratic Party and Ratan Gazmere, chief co-ordinator of the Association of Human Rights Activists-Bhutan (AHURA, Bhutan) welcomed the US concerns.

"This is very good news for us," said Basnet. "This is the first time that the US has expressed such open support for us." He added it was long overdue in the light of the atrocities on the refugees.

Gazmere said that with US showing interest in the affairs of the refugees, things could be better for the refugees. There are more than 100 thousand refugees in the UNHCR-run camps in eastern Nepal.

A statement issued later today by AHURA also pleaded to the governments of Austria, Denmark, Finland, Japan, India, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and other bilateral partners to Bhutan and Nepal to denounce the Khundabari refugee camps categorisation results.

The statement added the Bhutanese refugees are hugely dismayed by the "passive role" played by the UNHCR and other UN agencies even two weeks after the announcement of the categorisation results.

Similarly, the Bhutanese Refugee Repatriation Support Group (BRRSG) Nepal has also urged the international community and donor agencies to pressurise the Bhutanese government to "rectify the injustice meted out to the refugees and repatriate them to their homestead".

Govt eagerly waiting for talks: PM Thapa

Post Report

KATHMANDU, July 10 : Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa said here today that he was eagerly waiting for the next round of peace talks with the Maoists. He was talking to the facilitators of the government-Maoist peace dialogue, at his office Singha Durbar.

"Government has completed its home works to resume the talks at the earliest," Karnadhoj Adhikari, one of the facilitators for the talks quoted Thapa as saying.

Thapa also informed the facilitators that the government would come up with a clear vision in the next round of dialogue to address the main political agendas put forth by the Maoist side at the second dialogue two months ago. Thapa, however, remained tight-lipped over the delay in holding the third round of dialogue.

The Maoists had put forward three major political demands—a round-table meeting, an interim government and elections for constituent assembly, in their set of agendas. The government side had assured that it will come up with official view on the political demands after homework.

The official dialogue team, which held the second round talks, has already been dissolved with the change of government. The future of the dialogue is still uncertain as both the sides are continually blasting each other for "breaching" the 22-point code of conduct agreed between the two sides on March 13.