Nepal should talk with India and China about its own security concerns

-Dr. Shiva Nepal, T.U

He is very simple, modest but yet highly qualified. He is considered to be one of the experts in the domain of International Relations and Politics. Dr. Shiva Nepal obtained his Doctoral degree from the Academy of Sciences, Institute of Oriental Studies, Moscow, Russia (USSR) in the History of International Relation and Foreign Policy. The title of his Dissertation was "Nepalese Foreign Policy and Nepal-Soviet relations".

Dr. Nepal did his Masters in Political Science as back as in 1975 from Tribhuvan University and specialized in International Relations. He has been teaching Political Science at the T.U since 1975. His areas of special interests are South Asia and International Relations and Politics. Currently Dr. Nepal is serving at the T.U as Associate Professor. At the moment Dr. Nepal is the Chairman of Strategic Studies Subject Committee, T.U. He is also the Head of the Department at the Strategic Studies department, Royal Nepal Military Academy, Kathmandu.

Dr. Nepal is one of the executive members of the Nepal-Russia Friendship Association.

He is associated with various Research activities and has presented several research papers at national and international level seminars. "Terrorism a Threat to South Asia"' is one of Dr. Nepal's much acclaimed paper which he presented at a seminar held in Kathmandu under the aegis of Nepal Council of World Affairs. His other equally standard papers include among others "The Parliamentary Election of 1995 in Russia" and a presentation at the International seminar organized by UN Center for Disarmament Affairs and Junaita College on "Arms Control and Disarmament on "The Problems for Disarmament in South Asia, Huntingdon PA, US, 1996. Dr. Nepal also participated in an international seminar on "The Problems of security of the world after the end of cold war" organized by the University of Illinois, Kathmandu 1992.

Dr. Nepal's thought provoking articles on strategic studies and security matters have been printed in national and international level journals. He has also served the Tri-Chandra Campus University teachers' Association as Chairman. During 1994-95, Dr. Nepal served as the GS of the Mitra Kunj, a forum housing the students who studied in the then USSR and now Russian Federation.

Dr. Nepal has been to India, Russia, Kazakhastan and US. He is fluent in Hindi, English and understandably Russian language apart from Nepali, his own mothers' tongue.

Last week, we approached this versatile scholar for an exclusive tete-a-tete to which he readily agreed. Below the results- Chief editor.

TGQ1: How do you Dr. Nepal assess the past ten years of restored multi-party order in so far as the performance of the leaders and the politicians are concerned? Your exclusive comments please.

Dr. Nepal: The performance of politicians and leaders, during the last 10 years, was most unsatisfactory, irresponsible, corrupt, undemocratic, and in some cases anti national. I do not recommend search for alternatives of multiparty parliamentary system, but it should be reformed and adjusted with the real balance and separation of power.

Political system is not in itself the end but it is a means for the betterment of the people. If it could not serve the people, it means it has been a failure. The lack of vision, good intention, and committed actions on the part of political leaders, has made the democracy, ‘a mockery’.

‘Multiparty system’ has been widely accepted political system in the world at the beginning of 21 century. But in Nepal, due to the inefficiency of political leaders, it is getting unpopular day by day. They have not fulfilled the commitments they made before the people at the time of restoration of democracy. Every body desires to see the fulfillment of these commitments. Babu Ram Bhattrai, who has also indicated that the Maoist movement is directed to the fulfilment of these commitments. But the political leaders who are running the country have already forgotten it.

The leaders and politicians have created a distorted order of the society that is- person and party above the nation. Self-interest has become top in the priority list. There is a need to reverse this order and the nation should be kept in top priority.

Economy is the base of any socio-political system. There is less chance of survival of political system, which is not supported by steady economic development. Our leaders have shown immaturity in the implementation of democratic system in Nepal. General people are facing more and more economic hardships. Politicians have introduced the beggar’s economy and the feature of this economy is that one will not let others beg until he is well fed. It is proved that the leaders who governed this country during the past decade lacked vision, good intention, and proper skills of governance.

TGQ2: As I understand you are student of strategic studies. How you Dr. Nepal evaluate the current security situation of the country both internally and externally. How the existing security situation can be improved? Your suggestions please!

Dr. Nepal: There are no security threats for Nepal, apparently, but the country is weakened in various fronts, which could be real threats to its security in future.

Nepal internally is threatened not only by Maoist insurgency, but also by the poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and underemployment, social and economic discrimination, social disharmony etc. All these factors are leading this country towards disintegration and these are the real threats to the security of this state. They might not be taken as immediate problems, but slowly they could cause real threats to Nepal.

Threats to the peace within the country and outside might also cause problem for our security. Maoist problem together with other problems in this region such as LTTE, ULFA, Kashmiri terrorists, Khampas and Free Tibet Movement and others could threaten us directly or indirectly. It is said that ‘81 groups of 61 countries are conducting terrorist activities from Nepalese soil’. Due to these reasons, India or China could threaten us with interventions at their choice.

Nepal’s security couldn’t be counted only in terms of war, though it is the most important element on which Nepal was founded and existed for long time in the past. There is no doubt it should be strengthened and modernized. But, the security of Nepal in the twenty first century has already become multi-dimensional. We must associate it with country’s economic development, social harmony, peace, and better understanding with other states of the world (with wisely calculated diplomacy). Now it is the time to talk with India and China not only about their security but also about the security concerns of Nepal in this region.

Once again, security concerns of Nepal could be improved only with the reversal of the conduct of our leaders, putting national interest at the first place and self interest at last.

TGQ3: The world is changing. Declared allies of the past too are changing and have found new friends at the cost of their former established foreign policies. In this context what strategies Nepal will have to formulate in order to promote stability, peace and security in the country and in the region as well. Given the fact that India appears to have come closer with the United States leaving the Russian Federation, the tentative continuation of the then Soviet Union, what effects will it have on Nepal's foreign policies? What Nepal should understand from these new Indo-US ties?

Dr. Nepal: The world has changed drastically at the end of 20th century. This was a great epoch in the history of mankind, as it saw the end of cold war. It has opened the door for new peaceful and fruitful co-operation among various societies. Shifting alliances among the states are obvious, because of the disintegration of the Soviet Union. India too, has strengthened its ties with the USA, but I don’t think that it has withdrawn its alliance with Russia. Russia is still a great power of the world, having potentials of being super power. In the past, Nepal was balancing between unfriendly powers like China and India on the one hand, and the USA and the USSR on the other. Now it should be easier for Nepal to balance between friendly powers, Russia is closer to America and India and China are not unfriendly to each other. If Nepalese ruling circle recognizes the national interests it will not be very difficult to achieve more friendly terms in relations with other states.

TGQ4: In the unfolding globalization what are the policy choices or say options for a small country like Nepal and also how it can enhance its viability and thus bolster its strategies for survival?

Dr. Nepal: Globalisation is the process mostly suited to the developed western states. Nepal is at least 100 years backward from these countries, but it has already experienced exposure of the new technology of 21st century. Nepal cannot be totally open and privatised with its present beggar’s economy. We should be careful while choosing the alternatives. Nepal also cannot remain aloof from rest of the world, but we must understand our position and requirements, otherwise Nepal will continue to secure its bottom position of the poorest country of the world. There is no harm in the state regulated or directed development. America and European states still have state regulated system in their economy. We should choose best possible alternatives. Nepal at least should try to stand on its own feet.

TGQ5: The Non Aligned Movement appears to have lost its meaning. Virtually the world has become unipolar. The SAARC process too has become redundant because of the animosity of rival India and Pakistan. Under such circumstances what strategies Nepal should adopt so that she can continue with her independent, if it were, foreign policies in order to enhance her prestige and honor in the comity of nations?

Dr. Nepal: Non- aligned movement was the product of cold war and bipolar world. But it has been developed as an open forum for developing countries. UNO is basically dominated by great powers because of the Veto in the Security Council. Developing and small states could discuss important issues in the meetings of non-aligned nations. There are still wars and cold wars on regional basis, such as India and Pakistan. They are still in the state of cold war. Non-alignment could still play its role as an independent forum as long as regional conflicts persisted. It looks like, we are living in the unipolar world, but it is only a transitory phenomenon. The World is heading towards multi-polarism, or with the rise of China as some scholars are predicting, the revival of Bi-polarism. Precisely, the importance of non-aligned movement is not finished. It still can be a dynamic and strong forum for developing countries in twenty-first century also.

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