By Our Reporter
India has always tried to undermine Nepal’s sovereign and independent status through various means. The Indians have a single goal to make Nepal like Bhutan. India handles the security and foreign affairs of Bhutan and wants to bring Nepal under the same status.
Nepali leaders, especially those who are enjoying power after the abolition of the monarchy, have also been serving India to fulfil the Indian intention knowingly or unknowingly.
This was also evident during the recent Nepal-India Joint Commission meeting.
In the meeting attended by Nepal’s Foreign Minister NP Saud and India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Nepal agreed to allow India to run the development project worth Rs. 200 million in Nepal without giving notice to the government of Nepal.
Earlier, since Surya Bahadur Thapa became the prime minister in 2003, India was permitted to spend on such projects worth Rs. 30 million rupees, later, after Baburam Bhattarai became the prime minister in 2012, he exceeded the limit to 50 million rupees. Now Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has increased the amount to Rs. 200 million. According to the agreement on Indian Grant Assistance for High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP), the budget will be spent by the Embassy of India in Kathmandu through government organisations or any other organisations.
Initially known as the Small Development Project (SDP), the then Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa first approved such a project in 2003, allowing direct investment of India in projects worth up to Rs. 30 million.
This project as well as the scholarship provided by the Indian government have become a tool for India to take Nepali leaders into their confidence. India can choose any project and spend the budget without giving notice to the government. Likewise, many leaders tend to work in favour of the Embassy of India as they have received scholarships for their children from the embassy.
No government of a sovereign country allows another country to run such projects in its territory, but the corrupt and power-hungry Nepali leaders have been doing this.
Many foreign affairs experts have taken strong exception to the decision. They said that the decision is against the constitution for foreign governments to support Nepal’s provinces and localities directly.
Likewise, the power trade according to which India will export 10,000 MW of electricity from Nepal inked between Nepal and India does not look transparent. Many suspect the agreement could be a game plan for India to capture Nepal’s rivers. Also, it is suspected that India will export power developed by only non-Chinese companies under various pretexts. If such happens, Nepal may not benefit from the power trade because big hydropower projects are being built with Chinese assistance while the Indian companies are holding several rivers without developing power projects.
Login to add a comment