Interviews
We vary fundamentally from Oli govt, especially how we view India
The government is gearing up for Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s official visit to India on September 15Sarin Ghimire
The government is gearing up for Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s official visit to India on September 15. John Narayan Parajuli and Sarin Ghimire spoke to newly sworn-in Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat, who had previously taken charge of the ministry in 2004 as a state minister, about the agenda set for Dahal’s visit, the status of bilateral ties with neighbouring countries and the crux of diplomacy the government plans to conduct.
With the new government in place, will there be a fundamental shift in our foreign policy?
In terms of foreign policy, every government claims it will promote national interest. The Oli government was no exception. But if your approach is not right, you cannot achieve your goal of promoting national interest; instead you may harm it. There are fundamental differences in the approach of the present government from that of the Oli government’s, especially in our relations with India. We believe that process and approach are important to achieve our goals. Our focus is to build better relations with India, China and other countries based on mutual trust, while protecting our national interest at the same time. Being a small country between two giant neighbours, we should be able to derive benefits from their economic strengths. If our relationship with our neighbours is based on trust and goodwill, we can gain a lot. So our approach is not to make a lot of noise but to use diplomatic channels to convey our core interests and requirements to our friends. At the same time, listening to their concerns will not harm us.
In some quarters, the previous government was criticised for playing the two neighbours off against each other while the present government is thought of having an Indian tilt. How should we handle geo-politics?
We are not tilted towards any country but our own. This government has been elected by the people, so our sole priority is to fulfil their aspirations and protect our national interest. We articulate our concerns, needs, problems and interests to our neighbours clearly. We are in favour of having good relations based on trust and friendship with both our neighbours. We do not believe in tilting towards one or the other, or playing one off against another.
Will you respect the agreements that the previous government reached with China?
We will. We have made it clear from the beginning that we intend to implement the agreements the Oli government reached with China. However, the implementation involves several steps, which require work and time.
Since the last time you were involved in the foreign ministry, in 2004, has Nepal’s ability to strike a balance in its relations with the two neighbours improved?
Though there is a fundamental change at the political level, we still need to work hard to make a visible difference. We need to improve our governance. We should be careful and adopt a diplomatic approach in dealing with countries that we have a multifaceted relationship with. We need adapt our relations to changing times, but at the same time, we should be fully aware of our national interest and guard it closely.
What is likely to be in the agenda of the prime minister’s upcoming visit to India?
We do not want to make a long wish list. The focus of the visit is going to be on building trust between the two countries that has dampened in recent times. To a large extent, we can already see a visible change. Through Prime Minister Dahal’s visit to India and that of the Indian President to Nepal, the goodwill and trust between the two countries will be enhanced. With our relations on track, our areas of cooperation will expand. And the pace of resolving pending issues will be expedited.
Another priority will be to push for the implementation of projects that have been stuck. Projects like Pancheswor and Hulaki highway are not moving forward the way we would like. They should be expedited. Similarly, we want to fast-track other projects that are not moving due to various reasons. We need to find solutions to the problems of flooding and inundation in borders areas. We also want to make full use of cross-border transmission lines and power trade between Nepal and India.
But we should not expect a single high-level visit to resolve all the outstanding issues between the two countries. This visit will provide a certain direction. Our bilateral diplomatic mechanisms should ensure that things move accordingly. Only then will we see visible results in terms of development projects and other areas of mutual concern.
Along with the visit of the Indian President, there are reports of the Chinese President’s visit to Nepal in October. Has there been any official word on the visits?
I think both visits are imminent, but it would be premature to talk about exact dates and details yet. Of course, we are keen to welcome them both.
The international community is concerned about our peace process. Since both the Maoists and the NC were important partners of the peace accord, how does the new government plan to move the process forward?
We have come a long way since the signing of the peace agreement. The Maoists have already participated in two constituent assembly elections. Now the NC and the Maoist Centre, the main partners of the peace process, are in a coalition. We are in the last phase of the peace process and hopefully our transitional justice mechanism will satisfactorily complete the process soon. Through the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission on Investigation of Enforced Disappeared Persons, the conflict victims will receive some comfort. The NC and the Maoists share a common understanding that grave crimes committed during the conflict will be referred to the courts and justice will be served. We want to see international norms being followed. However, there are still some problems in this process as some cases are already filed in the courts. The government is trying to find ways to resolve them.
The government just nominated two ambassadors—to India and China; one of them was recalled by the previous government. Doesn’t that indicate our diplomacy is too politicised?
No, we should not see it as such. We strongly feel that at the time he was recalled, Deep Kumar Upadhyay was doing a great job in clearing misunderstandings between Nepal and India. Moreover, the way he was removed from his position was not right. We agree that when there is a change in government, the new establishment has all the right to recall ambassadors and appoint new ones. But the way and in the circumstances the Oli government recalled Upadhyay was unusual. I feel reappointing Upadhyay is the right decision.
The UNCHR has announced that it will be pull out of the Bhutanese refugee camps by 2019. Have we made a decision on the fate of the refugees who did not choose resettlement to third countries?
As far as the Bhutanese refugees are concerned, Bhutan should take them back, since they are citizens of Bhutan. Nepal has been very generous to the refugees. We have kept them in our country for a long time despite our own problems. It is a well known fact that during the verification process, nearly all of them were found to be bona fide citizens of Bhutan. They were literally forced out of their country.
Over 65,000 Nepalis in Saudi Arabia are said to be looking to come back home because of difficult working conditions there. How do you plan to address this?
We will do everything possible to help them. The very first day I assumed office, I made it clear that when we talk about our international relationships, we cannot forget about the millions of Nepali youths living in foreign soil. They are contributing to the country’s economy and helping us pay our import bill. Therefore, their safety and security should be of the highest priority for the government. We need to gear our foreign policy towards the countries where a large number of Nepalis are working. We need to better equip our missions in those countries so that they can look after the needs and security of our migrant workers, and approach the government there and make sure that the Nepali workers’ rights are protected. The Cabinet has accepted the proposal of the foreign ministry to reduce the passport fees from 80 dollars to 50 dollars for Nepalis living in the Middle Eastern region and Malaysia. This is a symbolic gesture to lessen the burden of our migrant workers. We have also decided that in our diplomatic communication, we shall no longer use the term Nepalese but Nepali. We urge all to use Nepali instead of Nepalese.
We have also forwarded a proposal to the Cabinet for increasing local manpower in the missions in the Gulf countries to cater to the legal and other needs of the Nepali workers.