PM's visit: Success or failure

Addressing the press conference at Tribhuban International Airport Saturday, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said his India visit was a huge success. On the same day, the chairman of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M) said Nepal´s visit was the "most unsuccessful in history". The same visit can hardly be both a historic success and a historic failure, even if you look at it from two different extremes of the political spectrum. The fault lies with our political parties: They always see politics as a zero-sum game, where success of one party is another party´s failure, and one party´s gain is another´s loss. But that need not be the case -- especially in foreign policy and our relations with a neighbor. If Madhav Kumar Nepal wins the confidence of the Indians and persuades them to do something in the best interest of our country, it should be Pushpa Kamal Dahal´s gain as well, and it should also be Girija Prasad Koirala´s gain, as it is the gain of all Nepalis. A prime minister does not deal with a foreign country as an individual or the representative of a party. He negotiates as the representative of the whole country.



Political parties must show the will to take a joint stand at least when it comes to foreign policy. A divided country will only undermine its own interests. We are entering into a complicated negotiations phase in our foreign policy where business interests will take precedence over politics. And business means there will be give and take. So long as we remain divided, we will not have the confidence required for business negotiations, nor will others take us seriously.



So far as the success or failure of the prime minister´s visit is concerned it should be judged against the following facts. First, Nepal and India have closed negotiations on the Trade Treaty and the Treaty to Control Unauthorized Trade with their initialing by the commerce secretaries. The 1996 Trade Treaty was a watershed in Nepal-India trade relations since it provided for zero-tariff entry of Nepali goods into India. But the current round of negotiations has gone a step further, removing the non-tariff and para-tariff barriers, and provision has also been made for enhancing supply capacity and transportation facilities for Nepali exports. Second, India has earmarked a budget--over 32 billion rupees-- to complete various projects in Nepal. And thirdly Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh extended full support for the present government and expressed hope it would complete the peace process, hold elections and hand over power to the next elected government. We trust our readers will be the best judges.

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