FIFTH COLUMN

Deadlock

By C K Lal

Indo-Nepal negotiations on the resumption of Indian Airlines flights have ended as expected—in a deadlock. Considering the reticence of Indian authorities right from the beginning of the talks, the outcome was not only predictable, but quite inevitable. After all, airport security was merely a subterfuge, all Indians really wanted was to have a visible presence on Tribhuvan International Airport.

When an Indian Airlines flight that took off from Kathmandu was hijacked over Indian airspace by suspected Kashmiri militants, some of whom may have been Indians but none was a Nepali for sure, Indians went over the security arrangements of TIA with a fine tooth-comb. By all accounts, they were readily assisted by Nepali authorities in such an unofficial scrutiny.

Nepali airport authorities have to be genuinely interested in sprucing up their security arrangement to ensure that chances of such unfortunate incidents being repeated are minimized. Indians know quite well that security arrangements at TIA are at par with the ones in their own country, if not better. An economy as dependent on tourism as Nepal’s simply can’t afford to have anything less.

But aviation security is hardly the issue for the resumption of Indian Airlines flights, unilaterally suspended by Indian authorities in the wake of the hijack. At the root of the problem is the loss of face Indians suffered in front of international community when they easily yielded to the demands of hijackers. They want to bury their shame by turning Nepali self-respect into dust. The real cause of Indians’ insolent insistence lies in their own minds, and we can do precious little about it. Perhaps all they need is a bit of time for their wounds to heal. Then sanity will certainly return.

Even otherwise, Indo-Nepal talks could not have been timed at a more inopportune moment. Indians are smarting under the humiliation heaped upon their internal security by Americans, who insisted on having their own complete security arrangements inside India when Woolly Billy paid them a visit. Reportedly, they have also been forced to allow American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) being permanently stationed in their territory, something that the Indians had resisted for over half a century.

May be because of all these reasons, Indians want to humble Nepalis the way they have been humbled into submission by more powerful international forces, in the manner of a clerk who comes back home to scold his younger brother after being rebuked by his boss in the office. In such a situation, there is hardly anything one can do. One has to have patience and bear the sullen Big Brother until his sense of helplessness wears out and he regains his composure. Then only a meaningful dialogue can be held, leading to fruitful negotiations.

For now, waiting appears to be the only option. It may turn out to be a long wait, but in the end, good sense is sure to prevail.