Nepal’s sleeping envoy in Dhaka!

Save a few career and nationalist’ diplomats, the rest of the Nepali envoys posted in the friendly countries for the promotion of Nepalese interests are simply duffer or simply put “incompetent ones bereft of nationalistic fervor”. This incompetence has caused colossal loss to this nation’s exchequer to say the least. In essence, the diplomats posted abroad wish foreign postings not for the nation’s cause for obvious reasons. Their single agenda is to grab money and Ambassadorial prestige that one is automatically extended upon the presentation of the credentials in a given country of accreditation. There is not an even single instance wherein our diplomats posted abroad done some thing very tangible for the nation’s commercial benefits. The tragedy is that what ever prestige and popularity we possessed till a few years back appears to have all gone to the dogs summarily to the extent that Nepali passports at foreign international airports are held suspect and this has shamefully become common of late.

The rhetoric of Nepal’s present economic diplomacy has summarily suffered a setback due to the lackluster and nonchalance exhibited by our soi disant diplomats towards the national cause of enhancing economic diplomacy. The total disregard towards this policy by our men posted abroad has made outsiders to believe that since we possess nothing and hence we have nothing to export. If this trend continues for long then a day will come soon that will in all probability cap our export capabilities which till now exists in abundance.

It is in this light that we have taken the stance of our man posted in Dhaka. Clearly, our respected Ambassador there is enjoying the best of his diplomatic life for which he apparently chose to be there. Or else he should have exhibited at least the least interest for the nation’s commercial growth through the utilization of the Banglabandh-Fulbari transit route which was so graciously and magnanimously granted to us by neighboring India a couple of years back at the opening of which this weekly too had been invited to grace the opening of the route mentioned above. Bluntly speaking, the interest in the expansion and the massive utilization of this transit route provided to this Himalayan Kingdom by our immediate neighbors, Bangladesh and India, should have come primarily from our man in Dhaka. Instead, our diplomat belittled the significance of this transit route for his own motherland and opted to remain seated in Dhaka enjoying diplomatic privileges. Thanks that the Kathmandu based Bangladesh Ambassador Cyril Sikder himself took the initiatives apparently on our behalf and used the surface route to enter into Nepal from Dhaka albeit crossing a small Indian landmass. Upon return from Dhaka, it is the Bangla envoy who is doing the jobs for Nepal and is travelling here and there talking to the Nepali media and convincing the Nepali businessmen to summarily reject the false propaganda unleashed by some interested quarters regarding the road conditions. The Ambassador point blank says that his port in Mongla is equipped with all the needed facilities for the incoming Nepali goods bound for third country exports. The diplomat gave more emphasis in his country’s all out commitment in receiving Nepali goods without any let or hindrance the moment these stuff enter his territory which is apparently just around a forty minutes car drive from Kakorbhitta.

In essence, these events should have been conducted by our side to woo the Nepali businessmen to use the Bangla route who for unknown reasons have apparently been invaded by the false propaganda unleashed by some hostile quarters regarding the road conditions and other related matters pertaining to the availability of the facilities in and around Mongla port-the final destination for the would be Nepali goods meant for export. Nepal needs the port facilities not the Bangladeshi side. Considering the present state of the Bangladeshi economy, it could be fairly said that theirs is comparatively in a good shape. We need this facility much more than any body else. Thus the initiative must come from our side.

With due respect to our man in Dhaka, we humbly suggest him to remain true to his motherland and take initiatives which serve the national interests. Simply wasting time in Dhaka at the cost of national exchequer will tantamount to a crime. The citizens of democratic Nepal will not tolerate inertia exhibited by our men posted abroad and a time will soon come when such duffers will have to face the wrath of the people.  And in this pretext one fine morning India might scrap this facility extended to us on the grounds that we have not been able to use this route to the extent it should have been. It is at this juncture that we will become speechless. That’s all.

Headline | National | 5 Question  | 2nd Impression | International | Past |