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26 Sep 2015 | 07:20am NABIN KHATIWADA 10 Comments
KATHMANDU, Sept 26: Though India officially has been denying any blockade imposed on Nepal, the southern neighbor in practice has "stopped" cargo vehicles from entering into Nepal from various checkpoints.
However, it is not the first time, that India has imposed such blockade on Nepal.
Nepal had faced a blockade for 13 months from March 1989 to April 1990 as the then Trade and Transport Treaty expired and the two nations could not reach an agreement to sign a new treaty.
Leaders well-informed about the tension of the 1990s and the highs and lows of Nepal-India relations describe both the blockades as the result of clash of ego of the leaders and the "bossy mindset" of the Indian bureaucracy.
Rastriya Prajatantra Party leader Prakash Chandra Lohani, who has held the posts of minister for finance and foreign affairs several times, believes that personality clash of leaders from the two sides resulted in the blockade in 1990.
"India had raised serious concerns after Nepal, asserting itself as an independent nation, bought some arms from China. In the meantime, the trade and transit treaty expired to add further complications in the situation," recalled Lohani.
At the time, India had to keep three checkpoints open for transportation due to its international obligations while it sealed rest of the others.
Because of the 13-month long blockade, there was crisis of petroleum products and other daily essentials and Nepal, as a landlocked country, had to ferry those items from third countries using various alternatives.
"The then Prime Minister Marichman Singh was determined to face it. I still remember the then government bringing petroleum from Singapore. Nepal Airlines' Boeings were used to carry petroleum from Singapore," said Lohani.
"India had used the disgruntled political forces against the erstwhile governments in the past and it has been using the same tactics again. In 1989, the Indian side viewed Nepal's move to purchase arms from China as an issue of prestige," he said. "The context is different now. But the basic reason is similar. This time, the Indian bureaucracy considers that the southern neighbor has been ignored by Nepal in the constitution-drafting process."
Lohani believes that the Indian side wants to maintain its supremacy each time Nepal makes some crucial decision.
According to former Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey, India becomes harsh whenever Nepal becomes reluctant to obey the Indian orders. "Nepal's denial in obeying India's order leads to the rise in tension in political relation between the two countries. India takes harsh measures and adopts a policy of using the political faces it has been nurturing in Nepal so as to create political instability," writes Pandey in his recently-launched book, Kutniti ra Rajniti (Diplomacy and Politics).
RPP leader Lohani also echoed similar views. "Our leadership utterly failed to maintain proper communication directly with the Indian political leadership and remained heavily dependent on Indian bureaucracy instead. It is the result of Nepali leaders giving undue importance to Indian bureaucrats," said Lohani.
Meanwhile, Lohani criticized the minister for foreign affairs and the foreign secretary for leaving the country at such a crucial time. "This problem should be solved through political and diplomatic channels. I'm taken by surprise to know that both the minister and secretary at the foreign ministry left for the United Nations' General Assembly at a time of such crisis, and, that too for 15 days," he added.
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