Nepal: ZoP or dynamite?
Nepal’s geopolitical location is very sensitive for both the big neighbours – India and China.
We have an open border with India, which is harmful not only for Nepal and India but also for another neighbour China.
In every high-level bilateral talk, the Indian side raises questions about the misuse of Nepali soil by those international terrorist organizations and organizing terrorist activities in India; fake currency racketing in India and conducting many other illegal activities through the open borders. Oddly, it is not Nepal but India which has wished to keep the international border open. The EPG report prepared jointly by the eminent persons’ groups from both countries has prescribed regulating and monitoring of the international border between the two countries. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unable to manage time to receive the report, therefore, it has been kept pending. The EPG report is said to have prescribed several points for ending hurdles for better relations between the two friendly nations, including scrapping the unequal 1950 treaty and drafting a new treaty based on the equal status of both nations.
Some vested interested Indian officials were not happy with the EPG report, therefore, the Indian PM has not received it for years. If the Indian PM will not receive the report, automatically that will be expired.
Keeping open the international border is harmful to Nepal as well as to India. Those international terrorist groups may travel to Nepal from India and also they can travel to India by using each other country’s soil. In the recent past, many Afghan nationals arrived in Kathmandu via India. Thousands of Rohingya refugees are illegally staying in Nepal and also in the capital city Kathmandu. They came to Nepal via India. Earlier, the Bhutanese refugees came to Nepal via India. The Tibetan refugees currently exiled in Dharamshala, India and other foreign countries are frequently visiting Nepal via the land route from India. They are also visiting Tibet covertly by taking advantage of the porous border between Nepal and China.
In 2008, when Beijing was engaged in organizing the Beijing Olympics, Tibet experienced bloody unrest. Different small arms were used by the agitators in Lhasa. It is sure that those Tibetans received such arms and organized violent demonstrations with the support of those Tibetans and Westerners in Nepal. The open border between Nepal and India becomes a safe transit for carrying out such activities. How has the Nepal-India open border become a security threat for China, we can imagine.
After the devastating earthquake in 2015, a Chinese PLA rescue mission was in Nepal. The PLA team, while conducting a rescue operation in the Tatopani area, had recovered a large number of documents related to the Dalai Lama. This is the main reason why the trade points in Tatopani and Kerung have remained virtually closed since 2015. The Chinese side, time and again, has raised its security concern but the Nepal government has not been able to assure its Chinese counterpart, although, in principle, Nepal maintains the one-China policy.
Nepal is a vulnerable country from different security angles. All the organs have been destroyed and the security organ has remained very weak. Until the existence of the institution of monarchy, Nepal had stood as a security wall between the two giant nations. Along with the introduction of the multiparty democracy, political leaders and high-ranking government officials having different vested interests started to serve foreign powers. It is said that the concerned Nepali government officials will be rewarded with a hefty amount of money if any Tibetan national reaches Nepal after fleeing away from Tibet, China, is handed over to the UNHCR. It is said that there is bidding on government officials by the Western countries for receiving first-hand reports from the investigation department. These are some examples of vulnerability. Nepal’s vulnerability could be a serious threat to both the neighbouring countries. Perhaps, it is time to review the developments in Nepal by both countries that whether the existence of the institution of monarchy was good or the present system is comfortable for them; whether the present political mechanism, a brain-child of the Indo-West design developed and imposed through Shyamsharan, an Indian bureaucrat, is comfortable for both the neighbours or not, the leaders from both the countries should review and work for political stability in Nepal to keep their countries stable! The late King Birendra had floated the idea of declaring Nepal a Zone of Peace (ZoP) seeking permanent peace and stability in the country. The Indians didn’t like the idea. If peace doesn't prevail in Nepal and if the present political chaos will continue further, Nepal may turn into dynamite, as described by Dr Baburam Bhattarai, against the neighbouring countries amidst the present global race for power!