EDITOR'S NOTE
The much
vaunted visit of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to India starting on May 5 could not
come to pass. We would not like to lay the blame anywhere. It may not be conducive to the
health of the bilateral relations. But we are constrained to state that Nepal-India
relations, at the moment, seem to be guided by hard subjective considerations than by
traditionally emotional rhetoric. The undue haste shown in finalizing the visit had evoked
critical comments in many a patriotic media and elsewhere too in Nepal. That the exchange
of visits by Prime Ministers of such close and friendly countries should, at all, generate
any sort of misgiving is most unfortunate indeed. Since the Nepalese dignitaries starting
from Rana Prime Minister Mohan Shamsher have, most of the times, concluded agreements that
have fallen short of nation's interests, nationalist Nepalese intelligentsia naturally
becomes skeptical about the outcome of such visits. And Nepal's political leaders have yet
to learn to become accommodating and cutting across party lines invite experts to
accompany them on such visits to render them good advice, so that nation's interest could
be served in a better way. Unfortunately, Nepal has not been able to produce that kind of
large-hearted politicians who would rise above personal and party interests and dedicate
themselves to national interests and consequently listen to their critics too -- critics
whose credentials are comparatively much more dependable and non-controversial than
theirs'. The prolongation of boycott of Nepal by Indian Airlines will add more chill
to the already cool relations which had not sunk so low for along time. We have always
advocated about a stable minimum below which Nepal-India relations must not be permitted
to sink. It would never be in the interest of either nation. Consequently, the sooner this
imbroglio is resolved, the better chances for the relations to warm up. The Indian envoy
K.V. Rajan, who had one of the longest stints in Nepal, would not be a very happy man if
he has to return before this knotty problem is resolved. And their is very little time.
Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola is leaving for Delhi to sort out matters and also
pave the way for Koirala's visit. We are keeping our fingers crossed to see how far
Bastola succeeds to smoothen the ruffled feathers.
*
* *
The visit to Bhutan and Nepal by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako
Ogata may have generated unfounded hopes of early resolution of the refugee problem in the
minds of naive and simple Bhutanese refugees, who have been living a miserable life for
the last ten years. That the Bhutanese statesmen have played their cards much more
brilliantly than their Nepalese counterparts is there for every body with a discerning eye
to see. Since there is more to the problem than meets the eye, an easy solution seems to
be a far cry. Even Ogato is prescribing bilateral dialogues. And where do bilateral
dialogues take us, we have been seeing that for long. We have maintained that India, -
which is a good friend to both Nepal and Bhutan, must come forward and help both of her
friends to arrive at a reasonable agreement. Without India's active participation this
problem cannot find a happy solution. Since we know the limitations of all UN agencies, we
will not be surprised at all, if Ogato's visit fails to generate any productive result.
| Chief-Editor & Publisher |
: Madhav Kumar Rimal |
| Editor |
: Sarita Rimal |
| Consulting Editor |
: Keshab Poudel |
| Senior Correspondent |
: Bhagirath Yogi |
| Senior Reporter |
: Navin Singh Khadka |
| Reporter |
: Sanjaya Dhakal / Sunil Kumar
Gupta(Nepalgunj) |
| Photographer |
: Shyam Chitrakar |
| Editorial Office |
: GPO Box 7256,Baluwatar,Kathmandu, Nepal. |
| Telephone |
: 977 1 423 127 |
| Fax |
: 977 1 417 845 |
| email |
: spotligh@mos.com.np |
|
