Opinion - Editorials

Cross-border bonhomie with Nepal

THE NEW LINKAGES that India and Nepal seem to be seeking at this stage are related to the latest global perspectives on the need to tame political terrorism of all forms and manifestations. However, it will be naive on the part of either country to assume that they might face no significant hurdles as they seek to enhance their cross-border bonhomie to unprecedented levels of cooperation. A much-publicised outcome of the latest visit to India by the Nepalese Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba, is New Delhi's offer to help Kathmandu face the ongoing insurgency by the self-styled Maoist rebels of the Himalayan kingdom. Closely connected to India's initiative of this magnitude is New Delhi's expectation that Kathmandu will reciprocate in a big way. Mr. Deuba seems to have been left in no doubt about New Delhi's desire to see him address its concerns about the misuse of Nepalese territory and hospitality by some forces inimical to India's national interest. New Delhi appears satisfied that the Nepalese leader has shown himself to be sensitive to its concerns about the Himalayan kingdom's suspected vulnerability to penetration by some anti-India forces. However, if India and Nepal are not keen to debate this issue openly in the public domain, the reason obviously has much to do with their own foreign policy compulsions.

The Nepalese have traditionally tried to exercise a high degree of strategic autonomy consistent with their perception of having to coexist comfortably with their giant neighbours — India and China. Now, India's equation with Nepal in the new global context of an anti-terror "campaign" will not at all be divorced from Kathmandu's enduring relationship of mutual benefit with Beijing. This should be of no surprise, given that China too is an active campaigner against the globalised politics of terror. However, an entirely new element of candour is beginning to influence, if not also define, the strategic scope of the Indo-Nepalese interactions at this juncture. The candid exchanges seem related to New Delhi's strong views about the Pakistani intelligence establishment's alleged ability to access Nepal (not its Government) to foment anti-India trouble. It is in this unconcealed context that New Delhi's new move to help Nepal roll back its Maoist revolt will be seen on the wider international scene. The relevant question at stake is not whether the armed Nepalese guerillas derive inspiration and support from the residual Maoist elements in China or from the "people's war" groups in India or indeed from both. Of greater interest to the international community will be the reality that Nepal has not been able to control its Maoist problems despite its own recent promulgation of a state of emergency. India's new offer to Nepal remains largely undefined, but it is obvious that the political aim is to help enhance the kingdom's sense of security. New Delhi's gesture of this kind is a sequel to Washington's expressions of support for Nepal's own war against terrorism within its borders. Inevitably, therefore, India's neighbours will tend to evaluate its latest diplomacy of incremental goodwill towards Nepal in this overall situation of the kingdom's new visibility as a terror-infested area of concern to the U.S. and others.

India's ties with Nepal cannot be circumscribed by strategic and security issues of common interest, whatever might be their new weightage in the bilateral sphere. Not surprisingly, Mr. Deuba has conspicuously sought to turn the spotlight on the prospects of enlarged economic cooperation with India. Of much direct relevance is the recent bilateral accord on intensifying trade linkages over the next five years. While some specifics have certainly figured during Mr. Deuba's visit to India at this time, New Delhi cannot afford to brush aside Kathmandu's desire to work for more equitable exchanges in the economic sphere. It is also in India's interest to be accommodative in this manner across its "porous" border with Nepal.

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