By NP Upadhyaya Biratnagar: If India is around neither Nepal nor any smaller countries of South Asia need enemy. That India is an enemy has been established in South Asian politics. If Pakistan understands what India is in effect, then Nepal too has no less knowledge on India born in 1947. Prior to 1947, the present day Republic of India was appropriately ruled by the British India Company. The smaller countries of the region have abundant logical reasons to ask as to why the British India Company voluntarily left its occupied territory? Had the B. I Company been still alive and kicking in this part of the world, the politics of this region would have been completely different. Having said that, let’s concentrate our talks on Indian Prime Minister’s separate telephone calls to the executive chief of the smaller South Asian countries. It is these countries which are being continuously tortured by the Indian highhandedness, Nepal is the worst hit by this Indian Hindutva senility. Sri Lanka is the new target of India after Pakistan. But President Gotabaya too is made up of tough material and thus PM Modi can do nothing even if he encouraged the Sri Lankan Tamils to create problems for the newly elected President. Thanks that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajpaksha is assisting his President brother who have had the brilliant distinction of eliminating the LTTE-the Tamil Tiger menace from the Sri Lankan political scene for good in the year 2009. PM Modi made a normal call to Nepal PM Oli which was taken by Oli’s salaried “yes men” as to have been an act unparalleled in Nepal-India bilateral relations which have, notably, never been based on equality, for example the Nepal-India Treaty of Peace and Friendship of the year 1950. Interestingly and very true unfortunately, upon signing of this treaty with India, Nepal neither has a durable peace nor could forge a stable and sustainable friendship with India-the declared hegemon and the regional Police. The telephone call from Modi to PM Oli was not more than a regular one, however, the difference in this particular call was that Modi dictated the Nepal Prime Minister in a louder voice to forget the near to be cremated SAARC-the South Asian Regional cooperation. In fact Modi reportedly ordered Nepal PM not to exaggerate the talks of Kalapani land encroachment by his country and that he advised his Nepali counterpart to claim that Nepal-India ties have attained new heights in the year 2019. PM Oli and his men in the coterie did the same what had been advised by the permanent devil across the border. While the Ministers close to PM Oli opine that “With PM Modi exclusively talking with PM Oli, the land encroachment issue appear to get a restart as per the Nepali demands and that India is now all set to begin fresh talks with Nepal on the resolution of the land encroachment issue. However, rebuking the Nepali euphoria over the Kalapani issue, the Indian spokesperson Mr. Rubbish Kumar has clarified that the new map released by the Indian establishment including Nepal’s Limpiyadhura-Kalapani were certified Indian territories and that India shall not allow Nepal to claim its land. “India has not grabbed Nepali territory as is being given to understand by some Nepali leaders”, said Rubbish Kumar. Mr. Rubbish Kumar though has told that official level talks will resume shortly as per the demands of the Nepali side but the Nepali population understand that such explanations or for that matter “notifications” from the Indian quarters are made to pacify the population and the so called nationalists. The Mera Bharat Mahan Nepali leaders prefer not to raise the land grab issue simply because they conclude that such petty issues may derail their ROTI, BETI relations with India. This relation as such now exists with China as well. It is altogether a different matter that there is a considerable infiltration of some RAW agents in the group of the nationalists. However, who those infiltrators were remain yet to be ascertained. The January 1/2020 call of the Indian PM Modi was in essence to warn the South Asian leaders to keep themselves apart from the SAARC and instead focus on how to strengthen and expand the India designed child The Bay of Bengal Initiative (BIMSTEC). In fact, the Indian regime under Hindu fanatic Modi prefers BIMSTEC to be an integral part of the Indo Pacific Strategy by formally cremating the SAARC regional body. And for this, the US may not have, let’s presume it to have been so, assigned this task to PM Modi but in order to please President Donald Trump and to gain his personal/official favor for his brutal regime (India), Modi is hell bent on killing the SAARC body. However, some half-baked Nepali intellectuals claim that since the Indian Prime Minister made telephone calls to Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and the Maldives then he must have talked on the revival of the SAARC organization. The men in the Oli’s coterie have begun day dreaming which is not good, as medical practitioners say, for their personal health. That PM Modi’s exclusion of the telephonic talks with Pakistan and Afghanistan does hint that Modi has already said good bye to the SAARC body and that he intends to tame the BIMSTEC and finally merge into what is called as Indo-Pacific Strategy-the IPS. What is puzzling is that why the lone Super Power trusts so much this South Asian regional hegemon now led by fundamentalist Hindu who has even terrorized the Hindu population of Nepal who are definitely a special breed of the Hinduism who do not believe in terrorizing other religions such as the Muslims and the Christians? Frankly speaking, the USA by reposing trust on an expansionist regime has been doing a great injustice to the smaller countries of South Asia who unfortunately have their next door neighbor as India. Life is hell when India is your next door neighbor. If the US continues to honor India more than this Regional Police State deserves, the smaller countries tortured by the Indian regime will certainly prefer to distance themselves with the US and even doubt the US political credentials. It is not for nothing been said that the US looks Nepal and the smaller countries of South Asia through the Indian lens. Analyst Bharat Dahal and senior Communist leaders like BhimRawal and Dev Gurung rightly ask as to why the MCC grant offer to Nepal has a binding clause in the Nepal-US agreement that Indian approval is a must to go ahead with certain projects associated with the MCC. These political veterans ask the US as to why is the entrance of India in a pure bilateral agreement? They say that the MCC grant offer is a bilateral agreement but not a trilateral one. If so then why Indian approval? The US has yet to furnish convincing answers and satisfy the three political veterans of Nepal. The fresh press conference summoned by the Chinese Ambassador Hou Yanqui does tell that China prefers to warn the Nepali leaders to ratify the Millennium Challenge grant offer only after thoroughly studying the “real intent” of the US. In an oblique manner the Chinese Ambassador Ms. Hou wants to send signals to the Nepali side that China may not tolerate any Nepali tricks that are, under influence from some interested quarters, hit the core interests of China. However, China too must not dare to send its third grade nationals to Kathmandu under any pretext who create troubles for Nepal and the Nepali people. Some Chinese national having criminal mindset of late have been cheating Nepal and its nationals by residing in Nepali territories which need to be checked or else if China intends to disturb Nepal then Nepal too is not obliged to stick to its One China Policy. Saleable Nepali nationals may join other camps which will bring in more problems for China from Kathmandu. But the sudden dash of Nepal’s Home Minister Ram Thapa Badal (who spent some good ten years in India enjoying Indian hospitality) to China at a time when an intense debate on MCC is going is simply puzzling. The puzzle doubles when one understands that Nepal’s Home Minister is in China close on the heels of Ambassador Hou Yanqui’s hurriedly summoned press conference wherein she more than once hinted not to ratify the US’s MCC offer in haste. What does all these mean? Is Thapa playing double? Telegraph adds: In the meantime, the death of General Suleimani has definitely brought the US and the Iranian state close to a fierce war. Pakistan which fortunately enjoys cordial ties with both the US and Iran prefers not to align itself in the ongoing US-Iran tussle. “Pakistan will not be party of any move that disturbs the peace in the region and will not take sides in the US-Iran conflict, said the Pakistan Armed Forces spokesperson on Sunday. If so then the situation may take an ugly turn as it is only Pakistan which can normalize the tensed relations between the US and Iran, so believe Nepali observers. Pakistan enjoys cordial ties with both US and Iran. Chances remain fair that if Pakistan loses this opportunity (to find a way out that defuses the war like situation that exists at the moment) then India may exploit this situation for its political advantage. PM Khan may take some appropriate diplomatic steps that eases the war like environment that exists at the moment. Commenting over the recent developments in the Middle East, a top official of the Pakistani Armed force has told a leading Pakistani television channel ‘ARY News’ that Pakistan desires regional peace but at the same time, it would not compromise on its national security. To recall, the killing of Iranian’s Quds Force commander Qasem Suleimani in a US drone attack at the Baghdad airport has raised, as stated earlier, the specter of a new and wider conflict in the Gulf and the Middle East. The fact is that any conflict in Pakistan’s neighborhood would have grave security, political and economic risks for Pakistan which has still been reeling from the disastrous consequences of four decades of war in the bordering Afghanistan. The country also faces prospect of another conflict with its main rival India, writes Zeeshan Haider for Money matters, dated January 1/2020. According to a reliable source, the Pakistan Army Chief responding to a call from Mike Pompeo after the killing of Sulemani said that there was the need for maximum restraint and constructive engagement by all concerned to de-escalate the situation in the broader interest of peace and stability. General Bazwa also reiterated need for maintaining focus on success of the Afghan peace process. That’s all.