The Swiss knife and the Swiss neutrality

 

News about ideals like non-alignment, permanent neutrality, global peace and Nepal’s (perceived) role in the achievement of these ideals give pure delight at a time when peace is in pieces – at the global, regional, national and individual levels.

Reading a report about a fortnight ago must have calmed the nerves of many.

The report quoted Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Narayan Khadka as saying that safeguarding sovereignty, territorial integrity, national independence, and protection of national interest has been at the core of Nepal’s foreign policy all along.

Addressing the Prof YN Khanal Lecture Series under the aegis of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kathmandu, Dr Khadka reportedly said: “Nepal will continue to be committed to a balanced and independent foreign policy based on national interests.”

The keynote speaker at the programme, Prof Dr Surya Prasad Subedi, was reported as saying that Nepal could consider moving towards adopting a policy of Swiss-type permanent neutrality for the benefit of the Nepali people and those of the wider Hindu Kush Himalaya Belt.

The report quoted Dr Subedi thus: "Given the unfolding new dynamics of international relations, this region may once again be drawn into the conflict over the expansion of the spheres of influence of different international acts. Therefore, many of the foreign policy challenges for Nepal are as great today as they have been in the past."

The report has stressed that Nepal should adopt a foreign policy with a global outlook that goes beyond the management of relations with her two immediate neighbours, pointing that this would enable Nepal to gain power and influence in regional politics and make inroads into global politics.

The YN Khanal lecture series is indeed a great initiative and a fitting tribute to the pioneer diplomat of Nepal, Professor Yadu Nath Khanal, who had received an honorary doctorate from the Tribhuvan University in fitting recognition of his scholarship and contribution to diplomacy. Such was the aura of his scholarship and diplomatic skills that Dr Khanal got this rare opportunity to serve as Nepal’s ambassador to the United States, China and India.

Back to what transpired at the programme. Despite Foreign Minister Khadka’s remarks that safeguarding sovereignty, territorial integrity, national independence, and protection of national interest has been at the core of Nepal’s foreign policy all along, has the Nepali state not been veering off quite from this goal for decades? Have we the people not been witnessing a constant violation of national sovereignty and territorial integrity even as the Nepali state keeps paying lip service to neutrality in the wake of cold/not-so-cold wars, while aligning more and more with a specific camp?

 

What about the 1950’s Treaty of Peace and Friendship Treaty? Was it not a desperate attempt on the part of a dying, tyrannical Rana regime to remain in power, at the expense of Nepal and successive generations of Nepalis? In the larger context, was it not meant to give a neighbour an upper hand in Nepal?

What does the Koshi Agreement(1954), the first major move of the Nepali Congress-led Matrika Prasad Koirala government, signify? Has this agreement, which made way for the Koshi barrage, not benefited India at the expense of Nepal in terms of flood control, irrigation and navigation? Was it not some sort of a return on investment that New Delhi had made in the movement designed to overthrow a dictatorial regime and install in its place a friendly regime donning the garb of democracy?

Then came the move of the BP Koirala government to let New Delhi establish Indo-Tibetan border police posts in northern parts of Nepal. Did it not lead to foreign military presence in the Nepali territory of Lipulek-Limpiadhura-Kalapani? 

Didn’t the Gandak agreement (1959), another major move of the BP Koirala-led Nepali Congress government, end up gifting another vital river system of Nepal, the Saptagandaki river, to India, perhaps in recognition of the latter’s role in ousting the tyrannical Rana regime, despite protests from the Nepali people.

The Mahakali Treaty comes next. Signing of the treaty was the first major move of the Girija Prasad Koirala-led Nepali Congress government that came to power after the success of the 1990’s movement for multiparty democracy with constitutional monarchy. The treaty effectively gave away the Mahakali river to India, in recognition of the latter’s support for the movement. This gifting of our lifelines – our rivers and streams -- continues to date, with utter disregard for our very own water and electricity needs.      

Also, it is no coincidence that after every political movement that happens without fail in a space of a decade or so in Nepal, the oncoming regimes seek to change the cut-off date for acquiring the Nepali citizenship. This tweaking of citizenship laws ends up benefiting lakhs of people from the extended, volatile neighbourhood, who enter Nepal through a border that is open on our side. Does it strengthen our national sovereignty and territorial integrity? Will the likes of Dr Khadka bother to explain?

Even after the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a federal democratic secular republican system, encroachment upon Nepal’s territory continues, courtesy of our neighbours. While borders continue to bleed in places like the Limpiadhura-Lipulekh-Kalapani, Susta, Kanchanpur, Jhapa and Ilam, not a day passes by without reports of fresh incursions upon Nepali territories, making one wonder as if this fledgling nation were at war. This, at a time when we have almost become a junior partner of an alliance clamouring for global supremacy.

Of course, foreign policy alone is not to blame for the weakening of Nepal’s national sovereignty over the decades. But Dr Khadka would do well to not forget that Nepal has suffered the most when she has chosen to join an alliance while paying lip service to ideals like neutrality. What interests will this move serve, only time will tell. Hopefully, let’s hope that we will be alive to tell the tale.   

In hard times like these, let’s hope that Dr Subedi’s prescription of Swiss-type neutrality will be as effective as the Swiss knife, if not more.

Let Lord Pashupatinath and Goddess Parvati bless and protect us all.

-      Devendra Gautam