FORUM (Spotlight Weekly)

Indo-Nepal Relations Ought To Embody Continuity And Change

By Nishchal Nath Pandey

There is no dearth of diehards that argue that Indo-Nepal relations has lately been stagnant. But geography, religion and culture that influence the relationship between our two countries which is in itself multifaceted and intricately woven at the people to people level badly needed a pause for rethinking, a breath of fresh air for future planning. Hopefully there will be a realization that both have no other alternate but to have a relationship based on confidence, trust and interdependence and the relationship should be able to reflect both the essentials of continuity and change.

One very salient factor that we in Nepal appear to be nonchalant about is the conduct of India's international relations especially with regards to its dealings with neighbors. Neighboring countries have constantly comforted themselves with the widely circulated view that the South Block is the dominant factor in both framing and carrying out New Delhi's ventures in the domain of foreign policy and that the possibility of enticements, nudges and pressures simply do not exist. Various incidents and diplomatic overtures by New Delhi in the past did give the impression that the above mentioned anecdote was after all true.

With the advent of "the most representative form of government" in India with more than 13 political parties sometimes coming together to form the government or support it from outside, there are analysts that reason out a sort of a tweaking going on as far as the behaviour of India's foreign policy, especially neighbourhood policy is concerned. The most striking illustration of this was evident in the midst of the crisis in Sri Lanka after the rebel forces took over the Elephant Pass. Some influential politicians in New Delhi were reportedly attempting to prevent their leadership in taking decisions, which would have been widely viewed as being anti-LTTE. In fact, the DMK, which just lost power in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, has always been understood as having sympathy for the LTTE. The party's official website goes so far to state that "Dr. Kalaignar (one of the senior most of the party) having dedicated himself for the life and freedom of Tamils wherever they live, pursued all diplomatic efforts to defend the Tamil race and their rights, provided necessary assistance to all Tamil organisations in Sri Lanka and mobilized support among the political parties in India for the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils".

Interestingly, the Samajwadi Party states also in its website that it "is in favor of Indo-Pak-Bangladesh Mahasangh" whatever this means. But other than these, very few parties that have a stronghold in one or two states really give their beliefs and viewpoints that would affect foreign relations of India. Other political parties, especially of the south are in fact concentrating more on the welfare of their state through building their state's economy. The regional parties that had to endure constantly the risks of take-over of the state administration by the centre have today become powerful even to the extent of possessing the actual control over the survival of the government at the centre. A strong centre that was envisaged by the framers of the Indian Constitution; by virtue of the Indian voters might be a thing of the past. "With the all-India parties getting weak, divided and disoriented, it is the regional parties which have acquired the upper-hand. If the dominance of the centre was bad for democracy, the dominance of the regional parties even in central affairs poses a positive danger to the centre" (S. Sahay, Federalism: The Ascendancy of Regional Parties).

There can actually be no disagreement between regional desires and national interest but with the advent of the regional parties in India, Nepal ought to touch upon this un-trodden area of its relations vis-a-vis India. There are several difficulties with regards to this: Firstly, the Indian National Congress, BJP and the Janta Party-Janta Dal that have gone to power at the centre have had emotional relations with Nepal because of their weighty clout in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar or even West Bengal. Besides, some of our own leaders have enjoyed personal rapport with the senior politicians of these parties. But, the parties of the south hardly possess any knowledge of Nepal let alone any type of sentimental contact with the country or its people. Therefore, it is going to be difficult for us in the context of increasing number of central level politicians coming in straight from the south. Here, it must be understood that unlike politicians like P.V Narasimha Rao, C. Subramanyam and P. Chitambaram the present-day politicians are inexperienced as far as central level politics is concerned.

These potent changes taking place in the Indian polity can have obvious repercussions in Indo-Nepal relations. Besides, the carving out of Uttaranchal and Jharkhand from two of our neighbouring states, although Jharkhand is not connected with our border will bring to light yet another dimension that could affect us in some way or the other.

Current Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee after a visit to Nepal from 14-16 July 1977 as Minister for External Affairs had told the Lok Sabha upon his return that "during the talks (with the then Prime Minister Dr. Tulsi Giri, Commerce and Industry Minister Pitambar Dhoj Khati and Foreign Minister Krishna Raj Aryal) the projects of Karnali, Pancheswor and Rapti were discussed". He further stated that "it is proposed to build a hydro-electric project at Karnali, which would generate 2000 megawatts of power. It appears that Nepal and India would not be able to complete this project with their own financial resources, therefore it would be necessary to obtain international funds."

Exactly 24 years later, the two countries are still talking about the same projects and undertakings as if they were very fresh, innovative ideas. The current pause for re-thinking should serve as an eye-opener and a catalyst for a modification in our conduct of our India policy. If it is for the common welfare of the peoples of both the countries, we should not hesitate to venture into fields that were thought to be out of bounds till recently.

(Author is Researcher at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and well known writer on international affairs).