NATIONAL 1 (Spotlight Weekly)]

Maoists On The Defensive

Indian Foreign and Defense Minister Jaswant Singh has labeled Nepal's Maoists as terrorists, raising hopes for peace

By A CORRESPONDENT

If Indian Foreign and Defense Minister Jaswant Singh's recent statement is any indication, New Delhi's has hardened its policy towards the Maoist insurgency in Nepal. Indian police are said to have been alerted against Nepalese Maoist leaders and activists believed to be residing in the eastern Indian city of Silguri.

Jaswant Singh : Meaningful statement

Interestingly, a few days before declaring the Maoists as terrorists, the Indian government deployed 10,000 troops of the federally controlled Special Security Force along the Nepal-India border. "The government of India would continue its policy of extending cooperation to the government of Nepal and of having close cooperation between the authorities concerned on both sides to ensure peace and security along the border and to control activities of terrorists, criminals and other undesirable elements across the border," said a statement issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.

These two Indian steps have brought a ray of hope to Nepalis who are yearning for peace in the midst of a six-year-old insurgency launched by the Maoist rebels. "We have to welcome the Indian stand on the Maoist insurgency and on the posting of security forces along India-Nepal border to contain terrorism and criminals," said Minister of Finance Dr. Ram Sharan Mahat.

It is still too early to jump to any conclusions on India's policy toward Nepal, but one can nevertheless see signs of hope that Nepal will move toward achieving lasting peace. The agreement of the Nepalese government and Maoists to sit for a third round of talks must be seen as a step in this direction.

India's policy toward Nepal started to change following the goodwill visit to Nepal by Indian Foreign Minister Singh earlier this year. During his visit, Singh had welcomed the government-Maoist negotiations aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the insurgency.

Some Nepalese foreign policy experts are still skeptical about change in India's policy. "We cannot draw conclusions on Indian policy on the basis of a single event. They may back the insurgency in Nepal from behind and take some harsh actions to show the world that India is against terrorism," said a former Nepalese ambassador to India on condition of anonymity. "Nepal's policy toward India was never unfriendly, but Indian policy makers have left no stone unturned in order to destabilize Nepal. Unless India realizes that a prosperous and stable Nepal is a guarantor of Indian security, Nepal may not be able to achieve durable peace."

The century-old policy adopted by the British colonial rulers toward Nepal showed how a stable and prosperous Nepal could safeguard the security of British India. Unfortunately, Nepal has not received similar treatment from independent India. More than a dozen insurgencies have been launched against Nepal over the last five decades.

If India had a clear stand on the insurgency, it would not have ignored the earlier statements made by two Nepalese leaders. During his last tenure as prime minister, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai raised the issue of India giving shelter to Nepalese Maoists, a concern also voiced by Dr Mahat, who was foreign minister. However, New Delhi ignored the statements. Following the recent remarks of Nepali Congress president and former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala and CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal accusing India of backing the Maoists, Indian officialdom was compelled to clarify its stand.

Although Koirala and Nepal have tried to soften the content of their statements, neither has retracted them. Interestingly, Nepal was among several communist leaders who visited Silguri last month to meet CPN-Maoist leaders, including Prachanda.

Following the terrorist attacks in the United States, the global approach to terrorism and violent insurgency has drastically changed. The US government has called for international solidarity to fight against international terrorism. As Western powers have realized the possibility of even a small insurgency ballooning into a major crisis, they have demanded clear-cut policies from governments on terrorism.

India, which has been fighting insurgency and terrorism from its northeastern states to Bihar in the center to Jammu and Kashmir in the west, may have realized the danger of a possible network of all the insurgents under a single command and control. Unlike the insurgencies of Nepal in the 1960s and 1970s, when it was virtually impossible to develop links among insurgents, one cannot rule out growing cooperation among rebel groups.

Whatever the circumstances that may have led to the shift in India's policy, it has certainly raised hopes for peace in the Himalayan kingdom, which has been passing through various stages of political instability, violence and uncertainty.