Chinese chequers
August 21, 2011 9:28:34 PM
Beijing woos Kathmandu with more aid
When a high-level Chinese delegation visited Nepal last week, their host country’s Prime Minister had just resigned after only seven months in office. His term, like those of his predecessors, had been marked by petty political infighting. The care-taker Government that was in-charge was busy trying to form a national consensus Government from amongst a fractured body politic. Yet none of this growing instability deterred the mandarins in Beijing in any manner. So, a jumbo 60-member Chinese delegation landed in Kathmandu exactly as had been planned before the Government there played its latest round of musical chairs. Headed by President Hu Jintao’s special envoy — a senior member of the Communist Party Politburo — the delegation spent three days in the country during which it met several top Nepalese policy-makers from across the political spectrum, including the Prime Minister and the President. By the time the delegation left Kathmandu on Thursday, it had signed four bilateral agreements which included $50 million in economic aid, $24 million in soft loans to build a hydropower transmission line and another $2.5 million to spruce up Nepal Police. In turn, it had won the Nepalese leadership’s commitment to a ‘One China’ policy and ensured, in the words of Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal, that there would be no “anti-China activity on Nepali soil.” What this essentially means is that Kathmandu will intensify its crackdown on the 22,000 Tibetan refugees who currently live in Nepal, an erstwhile safe haven for them. Authorities there have shown little tolerance for the celebrations of the Dalai Lama’s birthday in what is widely believed to be the after-effect of an earlier $19 million military aid package that came though in March during the visit of the Chinese Army chief, General Chen Bingde.
For quite some time now, Beijing has been perturbed by the chronic instability in Kathmandu, particularly because of Nepal’s proximity to Tibet. It has also been seeking ways to expand its political clout in Nepal, in part to combat India’s influence. By offering an impoverished Nepal a taste of Chinese largesse, Beijing has effectively killed two birds with one stone. Historically, India has been Nepal’s dominant ally but that equation might be changing, especially since in recent years New Delhi has remained strangely aloof from its northern neighbour. For example, compare the highly successful Chinese tour with Union Minister for External Affairs SM Krishna’s lacklustre visit. If India aspires to play a role in global politics, it must first strengthen its presence in the region. This does not mean engaging in a faceoff with China but strengthening relations with our neighbours in the subcontinent and beyond.
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