Foreign policy should remain steadfast

By Yug Bahadur

It is a definite fact that Nepal has to keep a balanced foreign policy. None less than the late king Prithivi Narayan Shah had said this almost three centuries ago.

For a tiny nation like Nepal, it is even more important to have good relations with all major and friendly countries that extend a helping hand for our development efforts.

The main thing is first having a balanced relationship with two of our politically different neighbours and also having friendly relations with other powers of the world.

Foreign policy should remain steadfast. It should not be changed by any political party or some leaders. This is something which our visionless political leaders don’t seem to understand. That is the standard principle of most stable nations. No matter which party comes to power or which individual becomes the prime minister or foreign minister, the foreign policy of the nation remains firm and not influenced by any other things including foreign interference. It is there only for their own country’s interest.

But we are not seeing this happening in Nepal now. This is a sad development and persons like the late King Prithvi must be living in turmoil in whichever place they are, very anxious about the way the present leaders are treating a serious issue like the foreign policy of the country in a negligent manner.

This is utter irresponsibility of our leaders who actually have very poor education and also poor knowledge about such a serious matter. They are only interested in appointing their relatives and cadres as our diplomatic envoys and the result is being seen by close observers even now when Nepal has to react firmly in certain international situations.

Just while writing this piece, this author was dismayed at the report in the media which said China and India signed an agreement to use the Nepali land in Lipulekh to allow pilgrims to travel to Mansarovar.

This is absurd and our so-called leaders, civil society activists and also the always vitriolic media among others remain so silent about this gross injustice against their own country.

What about the so-called political activists who always shouted hoarse for the ouster of the institution of monarchy, can’t they even speak a word about the ouster of foreigners from their own land? Actually, the former kings were the biggest nationalists. This has been proved by history, but few speak about this. After all, the real people who mean well for the country are always in the shadows and only the relatives or the rich are being appointed at all levels.

Merit is only talked about, but the real merit of having individuals are neglected.

It will be a waste of time to take the names of individuals like Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Babu Ram Bhattarai, KP Oli, Sher Bahadur Deuba, Kamal Thapa and many others while talking about nationalism. They are pure frauds who are ready to sell our soil and nationalism for very selfish reasons and that also at a very low price. They may think they have benefited individually, but their decisions have cost a heavy price to the nation and the real citizens of this country.

The situation has become so bad that merit comes nowhere in front of nepotism, political affiliation or some form of financial dealings. How can we expect any development in such conditions which our leaders seem to take for granted?

The most disappointing thing is that even the so-called ‘younger generation’ of leaders are falling into the same trap as the old generation of leaders who are so much detested by the people now.

One fellow who was considered a good journalist is in jail now and his party is in a state of confusion. They said they would bring change, actually, they did nothing. Some of the individuals in this man’s party seem to be sincere, but those in the limelight now look exactly like frauds, specially in the eyes of close and neutral observers. They seem to be shedding only crocodile tears for their leader while seeking to grab media attention and sympathy from their party’s supporters, which is dwindling day by day at present.

To shift a little away from our major topic, this author does not know how this trend started, but all sectors in the country seem to be in one union or the other. One simply cannot move ahead unless one is affiliated with some political union. The saddest part is even pure professionals like doctors, engineers, professors, nurses, civil servants and all others are involved in some union and thus they have to survive or go ahead.

At least as far as this author believes, the unions should definitely be there, but they have to work in the interest of the employees rather than being mixed up in politics. I am not as radical as one person who was in a powerful position sometime back, who had ordered that the unions should be closed at once, but I surely am dismayed by the political colours which the unions are known by now. It is the leaders who should discourage this sort of trend, but as they are so heavily dependent on these political workers, rather than employees, they are happy with what is destroying the whole working culture of most sectors.

Being an active journalist for almost five decades, this author feels sad that even this institution which should always remain professional and neutral is also divided on political lines. Just look at how the recently held election of the Federation of National Journalists took place. It was totally divided on political lines and as this author heard, the supporters of the Nepali Congress and the UML joined hands to vote for the officials. I have no grudge against any person who won, but for even the press to be divided on political lines is never good. We should always remain neutral and report things as we see it. We simply cannot take sides on political lines.

To come back to our main theme now, on matters of national issues and also our foreign policy, we just cannot be divided no matter which party we may belong to. During elections, it is completely right to be partisan. This is a fundamental right of every citizen of the country. But on matters of the nation’s interest or even professional interest, we have to rise above politics. This is the least we can do for our country about which we can say proudly we are Nepalese.

On this note, I would like to express my greetings to all our readers for a Happy New Year 2025 and pray that we will see better developments in the days to come.