NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday formalized the U-turn in its policy toward Nepal, when it announced a partial resumption of military supplies to the Himalayan kingdom. Realizing that stopping military assistance and dealing tough with the Nepalese monarch had not paid off and was diminishing its capacity in the regional role, New Delhi has now opted for a carrot and stick approach.
Thus, while it dangled the carrot of “releasing some of the supplies, currently in the pipeline, including vehicles,” it also flexed its diplomatic muscle, prodding the King to take “further and early steps” towards restoring multiparty democracy and constitutional monarchy.
The decision came soon on the heels of India calibrating its strategy on the Himalayan kingdom with the United States and United Kingdom — and much to the surprise of the political parties in Kathmandu and human rights activists who till Tuesday had urged these countries to withhold all assistance to Nepal.
The decision was also prompted by the fact that Nepal is running out of arms and ammunition to tackle the Maoist insurgency which is on the rise, causing the security situation in Nepal to worsen. India obviously is concerned about the spillover of the growing Maoist insurgency into its own areas.
The external affairs ministry which referred to the lifting of emergency in Nepal on April 29, and release of several political party leaders and activists, said “the government of India has decided to release some of the supplies currently in the pipeline including vehicles.”
This message which was conveyed by Mr Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, the Indian ambassador to Nepal, to King Gyanendra during his meeting on May 9, said, “It is our expectation that in the coming days, His Majesty’s government of Nepal will take further and early steps towards the restoration of multiparty democracy and constitutional monarchy, which remain, in our view the two pillars of political stability in Nepal and for meeting the challenges of the Maoists.”
Talking about the context in which the decision was made, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson said that in keeping defence supplies to the Royal Nepal Army under review, the Indian government had conveyed to the royal government of Nepal the need to lift emergency and media censorship and release all political party leaders and activists.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the military supplies to Nepal were under review but that those that are already “in the pipeline” cannot be held back. Dr Singh did not reply specifically to a question from the media team accompanying him back to India from a visit to Russia, whether Nepal King Gyanendra had betrayed the understanding not to speak of the issues discussed at their bilateral meeting at Jakarta. Instead he said that his advice to the King was that he should restart the political process and outline a road map for a return to democracy. He said that “our convinction is that constitutional monarchy and multi party democracy are twin pillars of Nepal’s polity and both must be strengthened.”
The Prime Minister spoke of the “close and intimate relations” with Nepal pointing out that whatever happened in the Himalayan Kingdom impacted on India. The Left parties have met Dr Singh to insist that military supplies should not be released to Nepal but clearly the government is in no mood to rule this out at all. The release of the military consignments that had already been cleared is also intended as a signal to King Gyanendra that New Delhi is no longer taking a hostile view of his government.
The decision has received full support from the Union Cabinet that is reportedly of the view that relations with Nepal must be restored. Highly placed sources maintained that some steps had been taken by King Gyanendra such as the lifting of the state of emergency and the release of political prisoners that were very welcome.
India has been in close touch with the British and American envoys in Nepal as well on this issue and has now taken the view that it would not be very wise to isolate Nepal at this stage.—By arrangement with AsianAge/Delhi
