On/Off the Record
By P.R. Pradhan
If diplomacy is also based on give and take, what Nepal received from Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal’s India visit, perhaps, 15 buffalos! Instead, Nepal has given many precious gifts to India. A few hours earlier to the PM’s departure, President Ramchandra Paudel unconstitutionally approved the citizenship law amendment bill, for which, India was putting pressure on Nepal for decades. We have given majority ownership to India on the Karnali-Fukot River by inking the 480 Megawatt Fukot-Karnali Hydropower Project. We have given a 51 per cent share of the project to India as if this is a river belonging to India. Nepal has already handed over the construction of 900 MW Arun-III. Arun-IV of 490 MW, Lower Arun of 679 MW to the Indian company.
It is speculated that Nepal has also given up the claim on the equal share of water from the Mahakali River.
PM Dahal has presented a long list of achievements that were made during his visit claiming that a major breakthrough has been made in the bilateral cooperation.
It seems all deals have been made on credit. The meeting between Ajit Dhovel and PM Dahal on 31 May was not cordial, the latter himself has revealed it. India’s national security advisor Ajit Dhovel and foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra suddenly reached Hotel Maurya to meet PM Dahal for finalizing the agendas for bilateral talks between PM Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi scheduled for 1 June. The two Modi confidants tried to check PM Dahal’s pulse. PM Dahal didn’t feel comfortable with the two top-ranking diplomats and PM Modi’s aides. Dahal was mood off since the meeting with Indian PM Modi’s close aides, which, he had revealed at a public gathering in Delhi. Only after the one-on-one meeting between Dahal and host Modi, Dahal had reenergized himself. We are unaware of the give-and-take deal made by Dahal during the one-on-one meeting, however, Indian Prime Minister Modi addressing a joint press conference after the bilateral talks informed that India is importing 10 thousand megawatts of electricity in the coming years and also the border disputes are going to be resolved. (Although it is said one-on-one meetings, there will be a senior diplomat’s presence from the Indian side as the Indian bureaucracy is based on the record system. From the Nepal side, PM Dahal was alone.) Understandably, without making the upper hand on the deal, India is not going to consume Nepal’s electricity, moreover, ending the border dispute is a vague issue. Nepal needs all-party consensus for land swapping. One alternative that is indicated by PM Dahal is the use of India’s chicken-neck corridor reaching Bangladesh without hurdles at the cost of handing over the Kalapani Nepali territory to India. The fact is that it is Nepal’s right to get the Indian route to reach Bangladesh as a landlocked country but India has always created obstacles showing security reasons. The other fact is that the Kalapani area is clearly a Nepali territory. PM Dahal was unable to claim the Kalapani-Lipulek-Limpiyuadhara as Nepali territory. He could only speak for resolving the impending border dispute following the Bangladeshi model.
India denied giving more air routes to Nepal from which the two already constructed international airports in Bhairahawa and Pokhara have become virtually dysfunctional in operating international flights. Even if India will allow entry routes via Nepalgunj in the West and Janakpur and Biratnagar in the East, the air traffic pressure on the Simra entry route could be eased and the Bhairahawa and Pokhara international airports could come into full operation.
Almost nervous PM Dahal could not raise the issue of the EPG report. Later, he said, he didn’t raise the EPG issue as he didn’t wish to destroy the “positive” talk environment. Nepal has chaired the SAARC regional cooperation organization. Due to the Indian attitude, the regional body is virtually dead. Dahal didn’t talk about the resumption of SAARC.
PM Dahal only spoke on those things which Indian PM Modi wanted to listen to and didn’t speak about those issues to which PM Modi didn’t wish to listen.
As no joint communiqué or joint statement has been issued after the visit, we are compelled to rely on the verbal commitments expressed by the two PMs. There are no written documents on Indian PM Modi’s commitments.
Whether PM Dahal is aware or not the Indian bureaucracy that the Indian prime minister cannot take any decision alone. He is abided by the South Block policy. To recall, the then Indian prime minister Inder Kumar Gujral had formulated sub-regional cooperation within SAARC for harnessing natural resources. This was his personal idea and along with his departure from the government, this idea was dead.
In conclusion, PM Dahal’s India visit was based on deals made on credit and we can say it buffalo diplomacy.
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