NEPAL: WILL NEHRUVIAN DOCTRINE SEE AN END?

N.P.Upadhyaya

Kathmandu: Indian attitude towards her smaller neighbors appears to be changing for the better.

Former Indian diplomats who were posted in Nepal and who more often than not posed as to have been no more no less than Viceroys too appear to be in a mood to repent for all that they did during their stint in Kathmandu in order to squeeze Kathmandu government until the latter yielded to the political whims of New Delhi Durbar.

The government in Kathmandu had to yield and it yielded as per the dictates of Delhi for fear of inviting retaliation from across the border. The Indian idea was to make Nepal a weak and dependent economy and unstable politically so that Nepal had to always seek Indian support. The process thus continues even today.

The Friendship and Peace Treaty that Nepal signed with India as back as in the year 1950; neither could bring peace in Nepal-India bilateral ties nor could pave the way for a permanent friendship in between the two countries.

It was because, analysts say, the treaty itself was a defective and humiliating and unequal one which Nepal had to sign under duress and coercion during the last days of the Rana oligarchy.

The fact is that the then Rana Prime Minister Mohan Shumsher-the grandfather of RPP chairman, Pasupati Rana-was compelled to sign the Treaty by Jawahar Lal Nehru. The tact with which Nehru made Nepal’s Prime Minister to sign the unequal treaty was later coined as “Nehruvian doctrine” which was based on “coerce the neighbors and get what you desire later”. The Rana Prime Minister did so with the sole aim that his Prime Ministership will continue in Nepal. Rana Mohan Shumsher could not get even inkling as to what would be its repercussions in Nepal and how Nepal will be treated by the other contracting party fore decades and decades in the future. Prime Minister Nehru a year earlier similarly had brought Bhutan under his political grip.

However, after the signing of the treaty Nehru completely abandoned Mohan Shumsher as a non-political entity. He had already done his job.

Rana oligarchy collapsed but the “unequal treaty” remains still as a sore for the entire population.

Nevertheless, some kind souls in the Indian soil have now begun ventilating their sympathetic attitudes towards Nepal and begun talking openly that Nepal’s “grievances and pains” must be addressed by India at the earliest.

A sort of campaign has begun in India’s academic as well as diplomatic sector in favor of Nepal which suggest that India now should not only treat Nepal as an “equal partner” but be also allowed to have her say as regards the review of the controversial 1950 Treaty. Albeit the said treaty stands redundant for neither Nepal nor India have honored the Treaty in letter and spirit.

This is good omen indeed.

It was heartening to note that Maharaj Krishna Rasgotra, who was Indian Ambassador to Nepal in the late sixties or early seventies, said that Nepal be treated as an equal partner while making a lecture at an international conference on India-Nepal relations in Delhi last Friday.

“India should treat Nepal as an "equal partner" and should not push for economic cooperation as "over-dependence" on New Delhi is a "major irritant" in that country, said Rasgotra on Friday in New Delhi.

Siding with Nepal in an apparent manner and suggesting his own country not to impose heavy “economic dependence”, this former Indian diplomat says that "The world has opened up and Nepal can't remain dependent on India alone. India should not have a sense of grudge or neglect if Nepal deals with other countries when it needs them".

A seasoned Indian diplomat of the Indira Gandhi era, Rasgotra also hints that India should take the prime initiative of redefining what he calls the present “economic equations” with Nepal. In his own words, “Observing that the onus of redefining economic equations between the two countries was on New Delhi, over- dependence on India is a major irritant for Nepal (and) we should not push our cooperation on Nepal."

This amply means that this former diplomat who knows Nepali sentiments concludes that it is New Delhi’s hegemonic posture towards that could have irritated the Nepalese in general and the helpless/hapless government in particular.

Look what the veteran diplomat says, "When India has, more or less, a sense of equal relationship with other countries like Sri Lanka and Bhutan, why is this sense of equality of relationship not developing with Nepal?" he asked.

Mr. Rasgotra is speaking the truth and truth only.

Surprising though it may appear, Rasgotra, during his Nepal tenure as Indian Ambassador too have had subjected Nepal to yield to Delhi instructions. How come this sudden change in him and his attitude towards Nepal is no less puzzling?

Analysts say that India has always treated Nepal as sovereignty less Nation-State and kept it at par with Bhutan-the protectorate of India under clause-II of the India-Bhutan Treaty of Friendship signed in 1949. Rasgotra, however, admits the fact that Nepal has not been accorded the treatment what India provided even to Bhutan and Sri Lanka.

Nevertheless, Mr. Rasgotra favors a better border-management in view of reports about Maoist links with Naxalites so that the problem is dealt in an honest and realistic way.

Rasgotra, who later assumed the post of India’s Foreign Secretary, also asked the government to reconsider the Indo-Nepal treaty of 1950, which he said was "inherited from the colonial regimes."

The fact is that this controversial treaty has remained as a painful experience for the Nepalese population till today.

Rasgotra admits that the treaty was “inherited from the colonial regimes”.

Kudos to you Mr. Rasgotra!

Look how sympathetically he suggests his own government that since the treaty is an offensive one that has been hurting the Nepali sentiments. He says, "If Nepalese have any reservations, we should discuss it with them. If the treaty is offensive to Nepal's sentiments then it must be done away with. Further, a new treaty can be discussed with Nepal”.

To sum up, let’s hope that Ambassador Krishna Venkatesh Rajan, too suggest his government on the lines acquired by his predecessor, Rasgotra.

Later the participants of the said seminar held in New Delhi, stressed the need to reconsider the previous agreements and treaties that Nepal and India signed at different intervals of history.

They have among others requested the governments of Nepal and India to review the provisions of the 1950 Peace and Friendship Treaty as well as the 1947 Tripartite Treaty on Gurkha soldiers. Summing up the two-day international conference on ''India-Nepal Relations: Looking at the Future" on Saturday, they also reiterated that the relations of both the countries should be reviewed and treaties renewed on the basis of Nepal's transition to a new political system and federal restructuring.

Reports say that the Delhi seminar has come up with ten point recommendations which include development of physical infrastructures in the borders and institutional linkages between two countries especially on social development, including in the field of health and education.

''Given the changes that are visible at all levels of relationship between India and Nepal, there may be a need to review the provisions of the 1950 Peace and Friendship Treaty, as well as the 1947 Tripartite Treaty on Gurkha soldiers," attending seminar participants observed.

The conference, organized by Indian foreign policy think tank, Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), was attended by Former Minister and Former Ambassador to India, Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, Dr. Chaitainya Mishra, Dr. Bishwambhar Pyakuryal, Dr.Puskar Bajracharya, Prof. Ajaya Bhadra Khanal from Nepal and Pankaj Saran, Joint Secretary -North, Ministry of External Affairs, Mahendra P. Lama, Talmiz Ahmad, Director General, ICWA, Former Foreign Secretary Shashank, Ambassador MK Rasgotra, Dr. Anjoo Sharan, Upadhyaya etc. from India. The experts recommended that Nepal-India border should be made the point of opportunity "rather than corridor of vice."

It remains yet to be seen as to how the Viceroys seated in the South Block take the fresh Indian diplomats’ initiatives as regards Nepal?

Source: http://telegraphnepal.com/news_det.php?news_id=706