Well I don't know how much do the states play a role but we could easily expand our borders and take the entire Nepali state under our control. If we are smart about it. The madheshis do have a grudge of being not treated as equals by the mountain Nepalis. So we could easily take advantage of that. We could have used the Tamil diaspora similarly to expand our border and take Sri Lanka and control it . Unfortunately the mistreatment of these countries by the former CON-gress gobarment has just helped the Chinese exploit these weaknesses . Our biggest diplomatic win has been in Myanmar by the present government though, so it's not all doom and gloom. The Burmese would be useful in slowing down the backstabbing Bangladeshis. But if we really need to buy their goverments loyalties we need to become the biggest arms exporter to these countries. The Chinese have basically replaced the Russians in selling arms for majority of third world countries. We just need to capture the market of making simple but effective technologies. So things like small arms which are modern but cheap. Purely 100% indigenous artillery,ad systems, mbts, ICV's, trainers and acheap mig 21 copy. Something inferior to the tejas but is a cheaper product that can compete with the likes of jf 17 and ftc 2000. Slowly sell these and make a faux Nato on the basis of interoperability. But right now we are not in that position LOL. We could very well use the kaveri to make a cheap mig 21 copy with desi electronics and sell to third world countries but no real push by our government.
India-Nepal Relations
- Thread starter Ashwin
- Start date
Maelstrom of collective narcissism
Amidst widespread fears of the pandemic, and increasing frustrations of the prolonged lockdown, a fresh wave of jingoism has once again begun to sweep through Kathmandu. In a gush of xenophobia and chauvinism eerily reminiscent of paroxysms of paranoia experienced in the aftermath of the Gorkha Earthquakes and the promulgation of a controversial constitution when #BackOffIndia had begun to trend worldwide, warriors with handheld devices are setting the cyberspace afire with anti-Indian hysteria.
The bone of contention, however, isn’t new. A strip of land on the north-west tip of Nepal bordering Indian territory in the state of Uttarakhand and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China has remained under complete Indian control since at least the 1960s, if not earlier. Nepal retains its claim and considers the Indian position as an encroachment. The dispute stayed under wraps until the early-1990s and appeared in the public sphere when the then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala signed a memorandum of understanding during his New Delhi visit about the Tanakpur Barrage. The ultra-nationalists in the ranks of Marxist-Leninist, Maoists and monarchists termed the understanding a sell-out and the arrangement stayed put for almost half-a-decade.
In 1996, a treaty larger in scope than the understanding over Tanakpur Barrage was ratified by the lower house of Parliament with an over two-thirds majority. However, the agreement also sowed seeds of discontentment in the main opposition party—the Communist Party of Nepal (UML). A breakaway faction began to oppose the accord. It’s possible to argue that the ideological and organisational support base of ‘nationalist communists’ provided the ballast for what became the armed insurgency of the Maoists soon afterwards. The anti-India rhetoric of the Panchayat era (1960-1990) started to gain traction again.
A few remnants of the ancien régime emerged overnight as custodians of the country. A retired surveyor became an expert on international borders. An administrator of yesteryears transformed himself into a water resource analyst. Another retired bureaucrat found a new life as the protector of public morality. A Naxal apparatchik deputed from Jhapa district in the east to the Mahakali region in the west for political proselytisation found a new purpose as a promoter of national interest. Together, they have kept touchy issues of Indo-Nepal relation simmering for nearly a quarter of a century.
It seems that the Chinese tacitly recognised the Indian position over Lipulekh again through a trade treaty in 2015 and the Border Roads Organisation under the Indian Ministry of Defence expedited its activity to link the region with Mansarovar Lake, which is a sacred site of Hindu pilgrimage that lies across the border in Tibet. Somewhat intriguingly, however, the ‘nearly complete’ section of the road was remotely inaugurated by the Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh. The Chinese have maintained a meaningful silence despite their complicity in the strengthening of the Indian position.
Ethnonational lifeline
The Lipulekh controversy couldn’t have been better timed. It has succeeded spectacularly in diverting the national attention away from failures of Supremo KP Oli on every front of governance. The lockdown is hugely mismanaged. Woes of displaced labour coming back home from India and trapped in no man’s land have failed to move the masters of their fate in the distant capital. Plutocratic connections of Supremo Oli have been forgotten. Excesses in the procurement of medical supplies have been forgiven. All that matters, for now, is the ownership of a strip of land over which Kathmandu had exercised little, if any, control for quite a while.
The longstanding imbroglio has pushed discussions over the alarming state of the economy to the background in the budget session of the parliament. Perhaps in deference to Chinese sensibilities in its client countries, Pakistan and Nepal have been kept out of the ambit of Indian Army’s rapid response team to control the spread of Covid-19 pandemic in South Asia. Meanwhile, Beijing is focusing its attention on countries of Europe that really matter on the global chessboard.
Being the predominant power of South Asia, the United Kingdom became the guarantor of Nepal’s internal sovereignty after the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816. The responsibility of being protector and promoter of the strategically located country began to shift towards the United States, where it remained throughout the Cold War. Since the 2015 earthquakes, when Nepal rebuffed part of the UK’s offer of support by sending its helicopters on a humanitarian mission back, the bilateral relationship has been cordial rather than warm. Protracted vacillation over the MCC Compact, which requires parliamentary approval, is unlikely to have made US strategists very happy. Oli has been looking for a lifeline more reliable than that of the Chinese interlocutor and the Indian establishment has served him one on a silver platter—the ignition of neo-nationalism to restart the engine of collective narcissism.
Desultory delusions
Nationalism has several connotations. It is a powerful energy to throw away the yoke of colonialism and gain independence. When it succeeds in raising patriotic feeling, nationalism becomes the locomotive of self-reliance. In its extreme form, however, nationalism transforms itself into the force of hatred. The fascists, the Nazis, the religious zealots such as that of the Taliban, and the communists of Khmer Rouge variety—these nationalists hated others more than they loved their own. Neo-nationalism is a mutant form of xenophobic jingoism.
Neo-nationalism evolves when demagogues incite the masses with slogans of collective narcissism. A concept formulated first in the 1930s, it has become a powerful force of international politics over the last few years. Pathologies of collective narcissism are impossible to miss. Demagogues drill an unrealistic belief in the greatness of one’s group. Supposed glories of an invented past are endlessly reiterated until it becomes sacrilegious to question them.
Conspiracy theories are circulated to show that ‘certain’ countries are constantly working to undermine the sovereignty of the proud nation. A deep sense of victimhood is constantly cultivated to prove that if it were not for some nefarious designs, their country wouldn’t have remained poor for over two-and-half centuries. Do these telltale signs ring a bell? Supremo Oli is the personification of collective narcissism of the ABCD (Aryan, Bahun, Chhetri and Dashnami) Nepalis.
Like in a pandemic, the virus of collective narcissism infects ethnonational groups irrespective of their status, as Germans found out when it was too late. It’s possible to argue that neo-nationalism can go together with the task of tackling day-to-day challenges of governance. It seldom works that way—collective narcissism is an all-consuming epidemic that spreads faster than the voice of reason can counter. The rise of visceral Hindutva in India is a case in point.
Inculcation of constructive patriotism with higher tolerance for dissent, the celebration of diversities and understanding of other nationalities could be the shield to protect oneself from the pathogen of neo-nationalism.
kathmandupost.com
Amidst widespread fears of the pandemic, and increasing frustrations of the prolonged lockdown, a fresh wave of jingoism has once again begun to sweep through Kathmandu. In a gush of xenophobia and chauvinism eerily reminiscent of paroxysms of paranoia experienced in the aftermath of the Gorkha Earthquakes and the promulgation of a controversial constitution when #BackOffIndia had begun to trend worldwide, warriors with handheld devices are setting the cyberspace afire with anti-Indian hysteria.
The bone of contention, however, isn’t new. A strip of land on the north-west tip of Nepal bordering Indian territory in the state of Uttarakhand and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China has remained under complete Indian control since at least the 1960s, if not earlier. Nepal retains its claim and considers the Indian position as an encroachment. The dispute stayed under wraps until the early-1990s and appeared in the public sphere when the then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala signed a memorandum of understanding during his New Delhi visit about the Tanakpur Barrage. The ultra-nationalists in the ranks of Marxist-Leninist, Maoists and monarchists termed the understanding a sell-out and the arrangement stayed put for almost half-a-decade.
In 1996, a treaty larger in scope than the understanding over Tanakpur Barrage was ratified by the lower house of Parliament with an over two-thirds majority. However, the agreement also sowed seeds of discontentment in the main opposition party—the Communist Party of Nepal (UML). A breakaway faction began to oppose the accord. It’s possible to argue that the ideological and organisational support base of ‘nationalist communists’ provided the ballast for what became the armed insurgency of the Maoists soon afterwards. The anti-India rhetoric of the Panchayat era (1960-1990) started to gain traction again.
A few remnants of the ancien régime emerged overnight as custodians of the country. A retired surveyor became an expert on international borders. An administrator of yesteryears transformed himself into a water resource analyst. Another retired bureaucrat found a new life as the protector of public morality. A Naxal apparatchik deputed from Jhapa district in the east to the Mahakali region in the west for political proselytisation found a new purpose as a promoter of national interest. Together, they have kept touchy issues of Indo-Nepal relation simmering for nearly a quarter of a century.
It seems that the Chinese tacitly recognised the Indian position over Lipulekh again through a trade treaty in 2015 and the Border Roads Organisation under the Indian Ministry of Defence expedited its activity to link the region with Mansarovar Lake, which is a sacred site of Hindu pilgrimage that lies across the border in Tibet. Somewhat intriguingly, however, the ‘nearly complete’ section of the road was remotely inaugurated by the Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh. The Chinese have maintained a meaningful silence despite their complicity in the strengthening of the Indian position.
Ethnonational lifeline
The Lipulekh controversy couldn’t have been better timed. It has succeeded spectacularly in diverting the national attention away from failures of Supremo KP Oli on every front of governance. The lockdown is hugely mismanaged. Woes of displaced labour coming back home from India and trapped in no man’s land have failed to move the masters of their fate in the distant capital. Plutocratic connections of Supremo Oli have been forgotten. Excesses in the procurement of medical supplies have been forgiven. All that matters, for now, is the ownership of a strip of land over which Kathmandu had exercised little, if any, control for quite a while.
The longstanding imbroglio has pushed discussions over the alarming state of the economy to the background in the budget session of the parliament. Perhaps in deference to Chinese sensibilities in its client countries, Pakistan and Nepal have been kept out of the ambit of Indian Army’s rapid response team to control the spread of Covid-19 pandemic in South Asia. Meanwhile, Beijing is focusing its attention on countries of Europe that really matter on the global chessboard.
Being the predominant power of South Asia, the United Kingdom became the guarantor of Nepal’s internal sovereignty after the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816. The responsibility of being protector and promoter of the strategically located country began to shift towards the United States, where it remained throughout the Cold War. Since the 2015 earthquakes, when Nepal rebuffed part of the UK’s offer of support by sending its helicopters on a humanitarian mission back, the bilateral relationship has been cordial rather than warm. Protracted vacillation over the MCC Compact, which requires parliamentary approval, is unlikely to have made US strategists very happy. Oli has been looking for a lifeline more reliable than that of the Chinese interlocutor and the Indian establishment has served him one on a silver platter—the ignition of neo-nationalism to restart the engine of collective narcissism.
Desultory delusions
Nationalism has several connotations. It is a powerful energy to throw away the yoke of colonialism and gain independence. When it succeeds in raising patriotic feeling, nationalism becomes the locomotive of self-reliance. In its extreme form, however, nationalism transforms itself into the force of hatred. The fascists, the Nazis, the religious zealots such as that of the Taliban, and the communists of Khmer Rouge variety—these nationalists hated others more than they loved their own. Neo-nationalism is a mutant form of xenophobic jingoism.
Neo-nationalism evolves when demagogues incite the masses with slogans of collective narcissism. A concept formulated first in the 1930s, it has become a powerful force of international politics over the last few years. Pathologies of collective narcissism are impossible to miss. Demagogues drill an unrealistic belief in the greatness of one’s group. Supposed glories of an invented past are endlessly reiterated until it becomes sacrilegious to question them.
Conspiracy theories are circulated to show that ‘certain’ countries are constantly working to undermine the sovereignty of the proud nation. A deep sense of victimhood is constantly cultivated to prove that if it were not for some nefarious designs, their country wouldn’t have remained poor for over two-and-half centuries. Do these telltale signs ring a bell? Supremo Oli is the personification of collective narcissism of the ABCD (Aryan, Bahun, Chhetri and Dashnami) Nepalis.
Like in a pandemic, the virus of collective narcissism infects ethnonational groups irrespective of their status, as Germans found out when it was too late. It’s possible to argue that neo-nationalism can go together with the task of tackling day-to-day challenges of governance. It seldom works that way—collective narcissism is an all-consuming epidemic that spreads faster than the voice of reason can counter. The rise of visceral Hindutva in India is a case in point.
Inculcation of constructive patriotism with higher tolerance for dissent, the celebration of diversities and understanding of other nationalities could be the shield to protect oneself from the pathogen of neo-nationalism.
Opinion | Maelstrom of collective narcissism
The task of tackling the challenges of governance seldom goes with neo-nationalism; Oli has found another issue to distract from his poor record.
Even as Kathmandu protests Indian encroachment, Darchula depends on India
With the onset of winter every year, the residents of Chhangru and Tinkar villages in Darchula’s Byas Rural Municipality descend to district headquarters Khalanga to avoid the cold. When spring arrives, they return to their villages and their fields, ready for the new plantation season.
Ashok Singh Bohara, chairperson of the rural municipality’s Ward No 1, makes this same journey every year with his family. If all goes well, he is generally back in Chhangru by April. But things haven’t so gone well this year.
Nearly two months into the lockdown, around 400 individuals from these two villages, including Bohara, remain in Khalanga, waiting to make their way home. Chhangru, Tinkar and Khalanga are all Nepali territory but getting from one to the other requires traversing through India, as there are no roads or foot trails on Nepali land.
“We haven’t been able to return to our settlements due to the sealed border,” said Bohara. “There is no foot trail to reach the villages through the Nepal side.”
The local administration was preparing to help the villagers return to their homes when the Lipulekh dispute erupted in Nepal with India announcing the inauguration of a road link via Lipulekh to Kailash Mansarovar. Protests erupted in Kathmandu, worrying Nepalis living along the western border.
“We rely completely on India for transportation and supplies,” Bohara said, who worries that any drastic reaction from India will imperil their existence.
Chhangru lies east of the Mahakali river in Nepal with Gabryang across the river on the Indian side. There are less than two kilometres between the two villages but there is a stark difference between the lives of the residents of the two villages. Gabryang has easy access to daily essentials at a subsidised rate provided by the Indian government. According to Bohara, the Indian government provides rice at INR 2 to 5 (Rs 3.5 to 8) per kg in Gabryang while Chhangru locals pay Rs 110 to 130 for a kilo of rice. There is a marked difference in the prices of essentials like sugar, salt and oil too.
According to locals, Indian security forces in the area extend help when necessary to the local population, dropping foodstuff by helicopters and airlifting patients in need of medical attention.
“The Indian government shows that it’s always there for the villagers. It never lets its citizens go hungry,” said Dan Singh Bohara, a former Deputy Inspector General of the Nepal Police who was born and raised in Chhangru. “In comparison, there is nothing the Nepali government does for its citizens.”
Locals say there used to be an old horse track connecting Dumling and Chhangru but it was closed off during the Maoist insurgency and fell into disrepair. Meanwhile, a motorable road was constructed across the border in India and in 1999, India started constructing the link road that has so incensed Nepalis recently. The road begins in Tawaghat in India’s Dharchula, Pithoragarh district and ends at Mansarovar in the Tibet Autonomous Region.
As India started carving out roads, it began to disrupt the Mahakali’s currents, further damaging roads in Nepal. But Nepali authorities, all the way in Kathmandu, paid little attention, said Dan Singh.
Nepal claims Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura, which are lumped together in a region that borders Darchula in the northwestern corner of the country. But border disputes have continued for decades. India has stationed its troops in Kalapani since 1962.
Back in November, India reasserted Kalapani as part of its territory by placing it within its borders in a new political map published after New Delhi divided Jammu and Kashmir into federal territories. As protests erupted, Kathmandu sought a date for talks with India, twice, but Delhi failed to respond.
The issue eventually fizzled out, with no concrete progress.
Locals believe that politicians in Kathmandu employ the border dispute with India to their own benefit, but rarely do anything for citizens who have been living precariously on the border for decades.
“Protests against Indian encroachment continue in Kathmandu, but nobody comes here,” said ward chair Bohara. “Just what did the government do for the locals who are the most trusted guards of the border?”
As protests erupted in Kathmandu against India’s opening of the road link via Lipulekh on May 8, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli came under immediate pressure from leaders of the opposition as well as ruling parties.
On Monday, the Cabinet swiftly approved a new political map that includes all disputed territories within Nepali borders. A day later, Oli told Parliament that his government would reclaim those lands.
“Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limipiyadhura belong to Nepal and we will get them back,” said Oli.
Locals in the region, however, have their doubts. The longer they are neglected by the state, the more vulnerable they will become.
Dan Singh Bohara, the former Nepal Police official, sees a larger risk–that India will win over Nepalis and further encroach on Nepali land if Kathmandu fails to pay attention to its own citizens.
“As the state continues to ignore them, it will be hard for many to remain Nepali citizens despite possessing a citizenship certificate,” he said. “The situation is such that even if Nepal gets its land back, many might want to hold Indian citizenship.”
Political leaders and analysts in Nepal by and large have a unanimous position that Nepal should pursue dialogue and take diplomatic approaches to resolve the issue. But on May 13, the government sent an Armed Police Force troop to Gaga in Chharung, near Kalapani.
A day later, on May 15, Indian Army Chief MM Naravane not only made light of the protests in Kathmandu but also asserted that Lipulekh is Indian territory. He went on to claim that Nepal was objecting to the opening of the road link “at the behest of someone else”, hinting at China.
Some in Kathmandu believe the Indian army chief could have been reacting to Kathmandu's deployment of APF personnel near the Kalapani region.
But experts say that a 25-strong APF troop won’t be of much help.
“The post was set up just to quell the criticism from locals decrying the government's ineptitude to protect the country’s border,” said Rajendra Thapa, a former Nepal Army brigadier general. “The post is not placed at a strategically significant place and the number of security personnel is not large enough. This is meaningless.”
The disputed territory of Kalapani is about 20km uphill from where the APF has been stationed. There are border police posts in Chhangru and Tinkar but personnel are only deployed there for six months in a year. Locals had suggested the authorities to set up the posts in Kauwa, which is eight km uphill from Gaga, and more strategically placed to monitor Indian activity in Kalapani.
Whatever measures the Nepal government takes to reclaim the land, they will be of little significance to the locals in the area unless the region receives adequate attention from the state. As long as Nepalis are forced to rely on India for supplies and for safe passage to their homeless, reclaiming disputed land will be meaningless, say locals.
For the 400 or so villagers who remain in Khalanga, protests in Kathmandu are far from their concerns. They are more worried about planting their crops and tending to their livestock.
“A plight of this scale is unprecedented. The whole village is stuck in Khalanga with an increasingly uncertain future,” said Bohara, the ward chief. “We have to see this day because the government has forgotten that some of its citizens live in this area.”
kathmandupost.com
With the onset of winter every year, the residents of Chhangru and Tinkar villages in Darchula’s Byas Rural Municipality descend to district headquarters Khalanga to avoid the cold. When spring arrives, they return to their villages and their fields, ready for the new plantation season.
Ashok Singh Bohara, chairperson of the rural municipality’s Ward No 1, makes this same journey every year with his family. If all goes well, he is generally back in Chhangru by April. But things haven’t so gone well this year.
Nearly two months into the lockdown, around 400 individuals from these two villages, including Bohara, remain in Khalanga, waiting to make their way home. Chhangru, Tinkar and Khalanga are all Nepali territory but getting from one to the other requires traversing through India, as there are no roads or foot trails on Nepali land.
“We haven’t been able to return to our settlements due to the sealed border,” said Bohara. “There is no foot trail to reach the villages through the Nepal side.”
The local administration was preparing to help the villagers return to their homes when the Lipulekh dispute erupted in Nepal with India announcing the inauguration of a road link via Lipulekh to Kailash Mansarovar. Protests erupted in Kathmandu, worrying Nepalis living along the western border.
“We rely completely on India for transportation and supplies,” Bohara said, who worries that any drastic reaction from India will imperil their existence.
Chhangru lies east of the Mahakali river in Nepal with Gabryang across the river on the Indian side. There are less than two kilometres between the two villages but there is a stark difference between the lives of the residents of the two villages. Gabryang has easy access to daily essentials at a subsidised rate provided by the Indian government. According to Bohara, the Indian government provides rice at INR 2 to 5 (Rs 3.5 to 8) per kg in Gabryang while Chhangru locals pay Rs 110 to 130 for a kilo of rice. There is a marked difference in the prices of essentials like sugar, salt and oil too.
According to locals, Indian security forces in the area extend help when necessary to the local population, dropping foodstuff by helicopters and airlifting patients in need of medical attention.
“The Indian government shows that it’s always there for the villagers. It never lets its citizens go hungry,” said Dan Singh Bohara, a former Deputy Inspector General of the Nepal Police who was born and raised in Chhangru. “In comparison, there is nothing the Nepali government does for its citizens.”
Locals say there used to be an old horse track connecting Dumling and Chhangru but it was closed off during the Maoist insurgency and fell into disrepair. Meanwhile, a motorable road was constructed across the border in India and in 1999, India started constructing the link road that has so incensed Nepalis recently. The road begins in Tawaghat in India’s Dharchula, Pithoragarh district and ends at Mansarovar in the Tibet Autonomous Region.
As India started carving out roads, it began to disrupt the Mahakali’s currents, further damaging roads in Nepal. But Nepali authorities, all the way in Kathmandu, paid little attention, said Dan Singh.
Nepal claims Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura, which are lumped together in a region that borders Darchula in the northwestern corner of the country. But border disputes have continued for decades. India has stationed its troops in Kalapani since 1962.
Back in November, India reasserted Kalapani as part of its territory by placing it within its borders in a new political map published after New Delhi divided Jammu and Kashmir into federal territories. As protests erupted, Kathmandu sought a date for talks with India, twice, but Delhi failed to respond.
The issue eventually fizzled out, with no concrete progress.
Locals believe that politicians in Kathmandu employ the border dispute with India to their own benefit, but rarely do anything for citizens who have been living precariously on the border for decades.
“Protests against Indian encroachment continue in Kathmandu, but nobody comes here,” said ward chair Bohara. “Just what did the government do for the locals who are the most trusted guards of the border?”
As protests erupted in Kathmandu against India’s opening of the road link via Lipulekh on May 8, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli came under immediate pressure from leaders of the opposition as well as ruling parties.
On Monday, the Cabinet swiftly approved a new political map that includes all disputed territories within Nepali borders. A day later, Oli told Parliament that his government would reclaim those lands.
“Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limipiyadhura belong to Nepal and we will get them back,” said Oli.
Locals in the region, however, have their doubts. The longer they are neglected by the state, the more vulnerable they will become.
Dan Singh Bohara, the former Nepal Police official, sees a larger risk–that India will win over Nepalis and further encroach on Nepali land if Kathmandu fails to pay attention to its own citizens.
“As the state continues to ignore them, it will be hard for many to remain Nepali citizens despite possessing a citizenship certificate,” he said. “The situation is such that even if Nepal gets its land back, many might want to hold Indian citizenship.”
Political leaders and analysts in Nepal by and large have a unanimous position that Nepal should pursue dialogue and take diplomatic approaches to resolve the issue. But on May 13, the government sent an Armed Police Force troop to Gaga in Chharung, near Kalapani.
A day later, on May 15, Indian Army Chief MM Naravane not only made light of the protests in Kathmandu but also asserted that Lipulekh is Indian territory. He went on to claim that Nepal was objecting to the opening of the road link “at the behest of someone else”, hinting at China.
Some in Kathmandu believe the Indian army chief could have been reacting to Kathmandu's deployment of APF personnel near the Kalapani region.
But experts say that a 25-strong APF troop won’t be of much help.
“The post was set up just to quell the criticism from locals decrying the government's ineptitude to protect the country’s border,” said Rajendra Thapa, a former Nepal Army brigadier general. “The post is not placed at a strategically significant place and the number of security personnel is not large enough. This is meaningless.”
The disputed territory of Kalapani is about 20km uphill from where the APF has been stationed. There are border police posts in Chhangru and Tinkar but personnel are only deployed there for six months in a year. Locals had suggested the authorities to set up the posts in Kauwa, which is eight km uphill from Gaga, and more strategically placed to monitor Indian activity in Kalapani.
Whatever measures the Nepal government takes to reclaim the land, they will be of little significance to the locals in the area unless the region receives adequate attention from the state. As long as Nepalis are forced to rely on India for supplies and for safe passage to their homeless, reclaiming disputed land will be meaningless, say locals.
For the 400 or so villagers who remain in Khalanga, protests in Kathmandu are far from their concerns. They are more worried about planting their crops and tending to their livestock.
“A plight of this scale is unprecedented. The whole village is stuck in Khalanga with an increasingly uncertain future,” said Bohara, the ward chief. “We have to see this day because the government has forgotten that some of its citizens live in this area.”
Even as Kathmandu protests Indian encroachment, Darchula depends on India
For locals in Darchula, reclaiming Nepali territory from India will not mean much unless the state finally pays attention to its citizens and the conditions they live in.
Border states play big role in such strategic moves. Example, Tamil problem in Jaffna and political mismatch in Tamil Nadu. Bangladesh infilteration problem and West Bengal. If there is a proactive government in the state then vigilance, swift action and better coordination can be achieved. Otherwise, a state government if against central government might botch up the things. For example, Assam anti migrant problem. There congress botched up everything in the past now India faces CAA and anti CAA issue.
For that you need a very vast industrial expansion. That every one is aware of. But achieving that is the problem due to various land laws, court orders, unhealthy business norms and unfair competition.
You will get customer only when you yourself put it in use.
This thread is a pretty good example showing why fickle minded people should never be involved in international relations. There is a good reason as to why a normal pappu from the street isn't made a diplomat. Just show some twitter outrage and as the next day comes, everyone forgets it. This "outrage culture" seen on social media sites is really amusing. Some posts out here are indeed pure gold. Particularly from a guy who has a goat in his dp. His posts in every thread are gems.
Just like Hardeep Singh Puri sharing his 30 years old photo with Prabhakarn few days back on twitter amid corona crisis. The same team which was responsible for failed talks.
One side you talked to that guy other side you sent IPKF, and then you backstab both IPFK and SL government. Tamil Nadu politics comes into play. Every thing gets perfectly ruined. MEA remains unaware what PMO and Military wants. This gives SL chance to move closer to rest of the regional powers like Pakistan and China.
Whole system was fickle minded and you are talking about one person with a dp of goat
I can give more examples, how Kashmir talks failed several times, how Nepal got away and became infested with Maoists under the nose of great diplomats.
India ki kisi neighbor se banti hi nahi.
Oh my things are more complicated than previously thought :
India-Nepal border: Communist group tries to march to Lipulekh to plant a Nepali flag, stopped by Nepali villagers
www.opindia.com
India-Nepal border: Communist group tries to march to Lipulekh to plant a Nepali flag, stopped by Nepali villagers
Nepali locals stop communist protesters from hoisting Nepali flag at India's Lipulekh
A couple of days back, Nepali PM KP Oli had launched an offensive against India and laid claims to Indian territories of areas of Lipulekh and Kalapani | OpIndia News
www.opindia.com
I never said all diplomats are perfect. Like any other group made of humans, some of them might have their issues. You can't generalize an entire group which numbers in thousands. But, any random guy from the street cannot be made a diplomat. Screening of candidates for any job, exists for a reason. The point was, reactive emotional outburts have no place in international diplomacy.Just like Hardeep Singh Puri sharing his 30 years old photo with Prabhakarn few days back on twitter amid corona crisis. The same team which was responsible for failed talks.
One side you talked to that guy other side you sent IPKF, and then you backstab both IPFK and SL government. Tamil Nadu politics comes into play. Every thing gets perfectly ruined. MEA remains unaware what PMO and Military wants. This gives SL chance to move closer to rest of the regional powers like Pakistan and China.
Whole system was fickle minded and you are talking about one person with a dp of goat
I can give more examples, how Kashmir talks failed several times, how Nepal got away and became infested with Maoists under the nose of great diplomats.
India ki kisi neighbor se banti hi nahi.
And I have no stomach for a political debate, so don't give me any more examples. As I have found out the hard way, political discussions/debates are a big no-no on this website or any other social media site for that matter. People are going to believe what they want and the discussion just spirals down to enrelated nonsense.
And as always, your posts are gems. Your worldview is amazing. Never stop.
50% reservation for sensitive job posts is what then?
I have been giving references for my posts. As I said, internal political dynamics are affecting your foreign policy.
Coming to Nepal scenario, well, they are trying to divert their incapability to handle upcoming cases of Covid19 so may be they are diverting the attention. This can't be rules out.
I wonder if palm oil import ban is our standard pressure tool for everybody :
kathmandupost.com
Nepal's palm oil exports could suffer as India suspends import licences
Shipments in the first eight months of the current fiscal year were valued at Rs 15.35 billion.
Nepal buys the raw material from Malaysia and Indonesia and sells the refined Palm Oil to India at prices which are lower than domestic rates of India produced oil.I wonder if palm oil import ban is our standard pressure tool for everybody :
Nepal's palm oil exports could suffer as India suspends import licences
Shipments in the first eight months of the current fiscal year were valued at Rs 15.35 billion.
Entertaining as always. But, sadly, thats the dumbest thing i have heard this week. Are you going on a generic rant against reservation? I won't bother to give you a counter-argument. Its not worth the effort.
Hmm, you see thats all well and good, but all this stuff you have written has nothing to do with what I wrote. As I said, the discussion usually spirals down to unrelated nonsense.
Something is on.....
Janata Samajbadi Party reiterates demand for constitutional amendment to incorporate concerns of Madhesi community
Janata Samajbadi Party reiterates demand for constitutional amendment to incorporate concerns of Madhesi community
As the government prepares to revise the constitution to legitimise new map, Samajbadi leaders tell the Business Advisory Committee of Parliament that it’s also an ‘opportune’ moment to address their concerns.
Nothing is on. Shoddy piece of journalism where the news mentioned in the headline is dismissed in a couple of lines & the focus of the article is on the Constitutional amendment regarding the new map.Something is on.....
Janata Samajbadi Party reiterates demand for constitutional amendment to incorporate concerns of Madhesi community
Janata Samajbadi Party reiterates demand for constitutional amendment to incorporate concerns of Madhesi community
As the government prepares to revise the constitution to legitimise new map, Samajbadi leaders tell the Business Advisory Committee of Parliament that it’s also an ‘opportune’ moment to address their concerns.
Back in the day when India blockaded Nepal for failing to accommodate the Madhesi interests in the Constitution, the Madhesi parties backed out of it & the Constitution some 8 years in the making was adopted by their parliament. These demands by those parties are nothing but old wine in older bottle. If they weren't accepted then why should they be accepted now . Besides these aren't ordinary changes. If Nepal continues on its present track the day won't be far before Madhes & consequently Nepal goes up in flames like it did during the Maoist insurrection there.