National 3 (Spotlight Weekly)

NEPAL-INDIA
Partnership for Prosperity

Nepal needs to exploit economic prosperity rising in the Southern parts of India

By KESHAB POUDEL in Hyderabad

From New Delhi, Indian capital to Hyderabad, capital of Indian State of Andhra Pradesh, one can observe enormous commonalities between Nepal and India. Thanks to this relation Indian citizens have tremendous attachment towards Nepal and Nepalese.

Office of Satyam Computer : Fascinating growth

From common citizens to those at official level, Nepal is well-known in terms of shared cultural heritage and religious values. They are something to boast about. As Nepal borders northern Indian states, a large number of Nepalese are unaware about the developments going on in South India – which has in recent years seen economic boom through massive utilization of the Information Technology.

For a smaller and landlocked country like Nepal, Information technology can become a boon for its economic growth. At a time when many other countries are reaping the benefits of growth of IT industry in India, Nepal is yet to make attempts towards the same. From Hyderabad to Bangalore, the IT industry is flourishing in India. And Indian IT Industry are opening up their branches across Asia including Nepal’s northern neighbor China.

“If there are potentials and markets, we will definitely start business in Nepal,” said Ashish Parashar, Assistant manager corporate strategy group of Hyderabad-based Satyam Computer Service Ltd, one of the largest Indian IT companies. Satyam Computer is also registered at the New York Stock Exchange.

Along with learning IT, Nepal can also expect to lure tourists from Andhra Pradesh as many Hindus there are easily attracted to Nepal. “I wish to visit the temple of lord Pashupatinath but I have already cancelled the visit twice because of uncertainty there,” said Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan, National Coordinator of Lok Satta, a non-governmental organization that specializes in the electoral debates.

From religious sites to market places, one can meet many Indians who are fond of Nepal and Nepalese. “We are very close in all aspects including geography, culture and religion but we seem to be distant neighbors,” said Jogender Singh, a young computer entrepreneur in Hyderabad. “Nepal has many geographical and other advantages to lure the Indian tourists.”

At a time when the temperatures at India’s plain rises over 40 degree Celsius in summer including in the Indian capital New Delhi, Kathmandu’s cool weather can be a major attraction to Indian visitors.

Sandwiched between the two major emerging economic powers of Asia - India to the South and China to the north - Nepal has a good future in the long run. Once these two economic power start harmonizing their relations, the situation in Nepal could drastically change for the better.

Whatever the geographical advantages Nepal has, Nepalese seem to have made hardly any effort to exploit them. Following the pocket campaigns by Nepal Tourism Board, the number of Indian visitors increased substantially in the last one year. Such campaigns if diversified and expanded could result in tourism windfall for Nepal as India is also one of the fastest growing tourist-generating markets. Nepal, traditionally, has been benefiting from Indian tourists.

Tremendous good-will among common Indian citizens about Nepal shows that there are possibilities to see Nepal-India relations taking a new shape in all different fields.

“Nepal is a good neighbor of India with which we have so many commonalities and homogeneous social and cultural relations,” said Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, spokesperson of the Indian National Congress.

The warm and cordial relations existing at the people’s level is a strength that can help in overcoming the irritants that often appear in the formal relations between the two countries. Unfortunately, Nepalese officials are yet to exploit the strong sense of friendship of Indian people towards Nepal.

Although Nepal has been passing through a very critical time, it has a vast economic opportunity across its border as Indian economy is growing at an average annual growth rate of over 8 percent.

In the last five decades, Nepalese entrepreneurs have hardly used opportunities to exploit Nepal’s geographical and topographical advantages by producing seasonal vegetables and fruits. At a time when India is producing a large quantity of manufacturing products and other cereal products, off seasonal agricultural products can be competitive items for Nepalese producers.

Although Nepal and India are very close to each other, what is lacking is the translation of the warmth into something that benefits the people. Nepalese and Indian media frequently cover different events occurring in each others’ countries but they are often incomplete creating more problems than solving them.

The relations need to be strengthened on the basis of commonalities rather that constantly searching for differences even though commonalities and shared interests far outnumber few differences between them.