On/Off the Record
By P.R. Pradhan
Today, we are passing through chaos. The very political leaders are ruling the nation turn by turn. They are hanging on to power and want to die while remaining in power. Since the 1990 political change, some leaders have already died, yet, those, who are alive, are ruling the nation turn by turn. They are well aware of the Indian micromanagement and believe that the Indian blessing is needed to enjoy power in Nepal. Therefore, all the leaders are in a race to New Delhi to please the Indian leaders and to gain power in Nepal.
The Indians have their own agendas on Nepal. Understandably, the first Indian priority is the Bhutanization of Nepal and our leaders are working on this Indian plan. We have two immediate neighbors. We have many problems with our neighbor in South, whereas, we have almost no problems with our neighbor in North. South is inspired by British colonial rule and practising colonialism on its small neighbors in the South Asian region. Meanwhile, the North is proceeding towards the path of global peace and prosperity.
A conference was held in Beijing on June 28 to mark the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech on the significance of the Five Principles, China’s role in global peace and prosperity, safeguarding small and underdeveloped countries’ interests, sovereignty and independence. To sum up, President Xi’s address focused on China’s policy towards peaceful coexistence of the global society.
Nepal’s former President Bidya Devi Bhandari was supposed to be present at the conference in Beijing on June 28.
Our Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal visited New Delhi to attend the oath ceremony of third-time-elected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the former had an opportunity to hold a sideline meeting with his Indian counterpart.
Modi is learnt to have instructed our PM Dahal not to visit China by Nepal’s high-level dignitaries and not implement the projects under BRI (Belt and Road Initiative).
After the return of PM Dahal from Delhi, Bhandari, under the instruction of UML chair K.P. Sharma Oli, cancelled her China visit.
Last week, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong attended the 16th meeting of the Nepal-China Diplomatic Consultative Mechanism. The Vice Minister, during his stay in Kathmandu, held a meeting with Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal.
Dahal’s Secretariat said that during the meeting the Vice Minister expressed concern on the delayed implementation of the projects under the Belt and Road Initiatives.
On Tuesday, when the 16th meeting of the Nepal-China Diplomatic Consultative Mechanism was taking place, PM Dahal was addressing the House meeting on questions raised by Members of Parliament.
PM Dahal said to the Parliamentarians that Nepal cannot afford BRI projects under debt. Therefore, the government has initiated talks with the Chinese government for the implementation of the BRI projects under grants or soft loans.
The PM said that the Pokhara International Airport was constructed with around five per cent of interest.
Earlier, Chinese Ambassador Chen Song had informed that the Airport was constructed under a 50% grant and 50% through a soft loan of 1.5%.
Just one day ahead of inking an agreement with the UML to form a new coalition government by toppling the government led by Pushpakamal Dahal, the Nepali Congress called a meeting of its central office bearers. The meeting decided not to implement the BRI by taking debt. The BRI has become a card that the leaders are playing to please their Indian bosses.
To conclude, the present government, under Indian pressure, is not keen to endorse BRI soon.
From the outgoing PM’s statement in the House meeting also, it confirms that the government is avoiding implementation of the BRI soon and the new government is also taking the same decision on BRI.
To avoid BRI, the government is saying that it wants BRI under grant or soft loan only.
Considering the geopolitical location of Nepal, we need to maintain balanced and equidistance relations with the two neighbors. However, our leaders, whether they are from a democratic party or a communist party, are interested in developing a good personal rapport with the Indian leaders, diplomats, and also with secret agents to retain or enjoy power.
On the other hand, Nepal has entertained the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), an American grant project. According to reports, Nepal has already crossed the limit of the matching fund that it had to spend on the project. We are sure that viewing the present trend of expenditure, out of the 500 million US dollars in the grant project, above 50% amount is going to return to the USA. Moreover, we are making suspicious our neighbor in the North.
The ground scenario is that the Indo-West lobby is aimed at destroying this historical nation from all sides. Ultimately, we are on the path of collapse. If the Nepali people do not become aware and won’t be ready to scrap this system, it will be too late to save the nation.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect People’s Review’s editorial stance.
Login to add a comment