Nepal: Prachanda´s blitzkrieg
Atul Chatterjee
September 23, 2008
Prime Minister Prachanda a.k.a. Pushpa Kamal Dahal has in the past forty days met the Chinese premier, India´s premier, secretary of the Bharitya Janata Party (BJP), addressed business leaders of the Conference of Indian Industries at Banglore, visited Infosys and presumably met Narayan Murthy. And on his India visit he took along 44 ministers, government officials, businessmen and a few journalists. There were photographs of this man, who till recently was toting an AK – 47, wearing a suit and tie with equal panache. Now he is of to the United Nations.
He specifically went to Bangalore looking for Indian IT based companies to set up shop there. But the thrust area remained attracting business into the hydropower sector. Everyone can see that India is slipping on targets in power so Nepal will be able to sell power to India.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh doled out INR 200 million as relief for the flood affected in Nepal due to the breaching of the Kosi river. Other Nepalese have advised their government to ask for compensation, maintenance work of embankments was supposed to be carried out by India.
Mr Singh asked for strict action to be taken against terror cells set up by the ISI of Pakistan and based in Nepal. Prachanda reassured him on this score.
Mr Singh muttered something about an extradition treaty. The Neps asked for a review of the 1950 Friendship Treaty, two or three water sharing agreements, speeding up of goods in transit and a transit route to enable it trade with Bangladesh. (The last is from the south east extremity of Nepal to the north west extremity of Bangladesh, a route that Bangladesh has also been asking to be opened.)
Why is it that the Nepalese have suddenly become so vocal ? Is it only because they have a refreshing change on top ?
China has announced that it will be extending a rail link from Lhasa to Khasa, and Khasa is just 80 kilometres north of Kathmandu. The Chinese have said that it will take 4 years to complete it but knowing them it is likely to be completed in three. (India has had plans to link Nepal by rail, but those plans are just plans.)
This will allow the Chinese to bring in not just consumer goods but also machinery much more easily. Also Nepal could prove to be a nice low cost tourist destination. For western tourists it could be an entry to China. (Even now they can go by road, but the railroad will link them to the heart of China.)
Further, the Chinese have not stated it but they are clearly bent on changing the demography and economics of Tibet. There are two other rail links terminating just above Arunachal Pradesh (large part disputed by China) and over Sikkim (It acceded to India in 1974, China recognized the union in 2004). Clearly the links will be at terminuses where they plan to develop habitations. Hans (an ethnic Chinese group) have already been pumped into Tibet with incentives, this is going to accelerate.
Further the Chinese see a larger Asian confederation building up, so they see Nepal as a lovely entrance into India´s backyard. And just as this writer sees all this, the Nepalese also see it. They have not forgotten the year 1989 when India had caused an economic blockade against them. They were forced to burn firewood for lack of fuel.
While Nepal´s links to India are undeniably strong now they have another friend coming in from the north – China, and Prachanda also knows this hence his confidence. Block heads from South Block and North Block of the government of India must be tearing each others hair seeing a Checkmate.
He specifically went to Bangalore looking for Indian IT based companies to set up shop there. But the thrust area remained attracting business into the hydropower sector. Everyone can see that India is slipping on targets in power so Nepal will be able to sell power to India.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh doled out INR 200 million as relief for the flood affected in Nepal due to the breaching of the Kosi river. Other Nepalese have advised their government to ask for compensation, maintenance work of embankments was supposed to be carried out by India.
Mr Singh asked for strict action to be taken against terror cells set up by the ISI of Pakistan and based in Nepal. Prachanda reassured him on this score.
Mr Singh muttered something about an extradition treaty. The Neps asked for a review of the 1950 Friendship Treaty, two or three water sharing agreements, speeding up of goods in transit and a transit route to enable it trade with Bangladesh. (The last is from the south east extremity of Nepal to the north west extremity of Bangladesh, a route that Bangladesh has also been asking to be opened.)
Why is it that the Nepalese have suddenly become so vocal ? Is it only because they have a refreshing change on top ?
China has announced that it will be extending a rail link from Lhasa to Khasa, and Khasa is just 80 kilometres north of Kathmandu. The Chinese have said that it will take 4 years to complete it but knowing them it is likely to be completed in three. (India has had plans to link Nepal by rail, but those plans are just plans.)
This will allow the Chinese to bring in not just consumer goods but also machinery much more easily. Also Nepal could prove to be a nice low cost tourist destination. For western tourists it could be an entry to China. (Even now they can go by road, but the railroad will link them to the heart of China.)
Further, the Chinese have not stated it but they are clearly bent on changing the demography and economics of Tibet. There are two other rail links terminating just above Arunachal Pradesh (large part disputed by China) and over Sikkim (It acceded to India in 1974, China recognized the union in 2004). Clearly the links will be at terminuses where they plan to develop habitations. Hans (an ethnic Chinese group) have already been pumped into Tibet with incentives, this is going to accelerate.
Further the Chinese see a larger Asian confederation building up, so they see Nepal as a lovely entrance into India´s backyard. And just as this writer sees all this, the Nepalese also see it. They have not forgotten the year 1989 when India had caused an economic blockade against them. They were forced to burn firewood for lack of fuel.
While Nepal´s links to India are undeniably strong now they have another friend coming in from the north – China, and Prachanda also knows this hence his confidence. Block heads from South Block and North Block of the government of India must be tearing each others hair seeing a Checkmate.
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