Himalayan dilemmas

Kathmandu was Natwar Singh8217;s first port of call after he had been sworn in as India8217;s new foreign minister earlier this year. Sher Bahadur Deuba8217;s first major foreign visit after being reinstated as Nepal8217;s prime minister was to New Delhi. Diplomatic visitations are a telling measure of the significance attached to diplomatic ties and, indubitably, relations between India and Nepal are taken extremely seriously by the governments in both countries.

Having said that, however, it is obvious that Deuba8217;s visit to New Delhi occurs at a delicate moment in the history of the region. Not only is Nepal currently under the grip of Maoist insurgents who are believed to control at least two-thirds of the country at present 8212; the recent siege of Kathmandu testified to that control 8212; but Indian industry and interests in Nepal have taken quite a battering of late. There were bomb blasts in Indian schools earlier this year and Indian businesses have been systematically targeted more recently. According to one estimate, at least half of the 20-odd major units in which Indian companies have a stake have been forced to shut down 8212; at least temporarily. Deuba has just assured Indian industrialists that his government is committed to providing security and protection to 8220;foreign investors8221; and that the 8220;liberal investment environment will be protected at any cost8221;. Reassuring words, no doubt, but the question remains as to whether the Deuba government 8212; headed by the Nepali Congress Democratic Party 8212; can actually ensure this, given its nebulous status. It has not even faced an election. Indeed, the other element in Deuba8217;s coalition government 8212; the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist 8212; has made its hostility to India fairly patent. In fact, it wants the 1950 India-Nepal Peace and Friendship Treaty scrapped since it believes it is against Nepal8217;s interests. Deuba has also expressed his irritation with the party he broke away from 8212; the G.P. Koirala-headed Nepali Congress 8212; which is seen as being close to India.

This political conundrum demands a mature response from India. Both India and Nepal have a shared interest in fighting Maoist insurgency and New Delhi8217;s promise of military assistance to Nepal underlines this concern. But in the long term it is the other initiatives 8212; like the oil pipeline from Raxaul to Amlekhganj, the improvement of trade and the setting up of better weather forecasting facilities 8212; that hold promise of transforming lives in what is undoubtedly the poorest nation in one of the most impoverished regions in the world. India must really work to help Nepal and the Nepali people help themselves. Further, India must encourage rather than underminepopular democratic aspirations in the Himalayan nation.