NP Upadhyaya, Kathmandu: Nepal now has no option than to quit the India engineered BIMSTEC. Nepal has not even distant relations with Bay of Bengal save the monsoon.

BIMSTEC has been designed to benefit India and India alone. Others are tail only.

Albeit, as individual countries in the BIMSTEC, Nepal enjoys expanded and cheerful ties with each and every nations and in turn the friendly nations except India possess immense love and respect for this Himalayan nation.

Nepal is country that has been very badly tortured by India since its birth in 1947. Thailand perhaps doesn’t know that India occasionally imposes Economic Blockades on Nepal.

But it perhaps understands India and so must have rejected the Puney Military drill organized by self-declared boss i.e. India.

China, the northern neighbor, is silent which apparently means that it is watching closely Nepali political overtures and time permitting may take steps that may be of immense importance for this country. Every Chinese step towards Nepal is perceived as negative towards the India regime.

The Chinese silence may shake Chinese interests “shockingly” in Nepal and much beyond. Is this silence meant for conserving the energy? China is losing slowly. Guaranteed.

Ashok Mehta, the former Army man and a self-declared Nepal expert has made a mysterious weeklong trip to Pokhara and its environs. His eyes were peeping the Chinese side. He is number one China hater. His longer stay in Nepal bodes ill for this country and the northern neighbor for multiple reasons.

China by this time has already understood Nepal Prime Minister KP Oli’s India dictated and doctored tricks that Nepal is simply dilly-dallying the Chinese President Xi Jumping’s visit and has been more than desired interested in Nepali affairs.

President Xi perhaps will cancel his Nepal trip this year and may shift sine die. Oli is playing games with President Xi visibly. Instead Modi is coming once again to Nepal. The unwanted guest he is by any means in Nepali eyes.

China knows that the Nepali leadership cannot be trusted and thus whatever she should do or intends to do will have to be done in the “name of the Nepali people” but not of the political animals who “report” each and every details of their talks with the northern neighbor.

This is widely believed so here in Nepal, though such near to close presumed claims needs yet to be substantiated. Yet what is for sure is that PM Oli may push President Xi’s Nepal visit date farther under the Indian pressure, but the people wish that the Chinese President at least lands in Nepal for few hours and makes some mega projects announcement in favor of Nepal.

Having said that the Chinese side should attach conditions that no China gifts to Nepal could be sold at any cost.

President XI shall not arrive Nepal this year end as PM Modi has already “booked” Nepal for his yet another flimsy trip.

Oli can’t deny even if it hurts President Xi. If President Xi is yet to read and understand PM Oli then no teacher in the world is left to make him know about Oli’s declared India bend and internal plans for India. Oli may lure China by granting some projects to be built. That’s all.

PM Oli is strong nationalist by “default” and thus he is an accidental communist who is misusing his tenure in the government.  He is sure to repent later.

I recall, around 2009 the then Chinese Ambassador Qiu Guohong speaking at a media interaction program in Ghattekulo, Anamnagar chaired By Mr. Kishor Shrestha had lamented that “ I am sorry to say, the factories that had built by China for the people of Nepal as gifts have all been sold”. This is painful.

This is what a sitting Chinese Ambassador had told this for the first time in front of this scribe and this writer later made a small editorial based on what the Chinese envoy Guohang had said. However, neither the organizer of the event nor the other members of the Media society which had organized the program wrote against the regime that sold the entire China aided projects. The same persons are very close to the Chinese embassy which makes us happy when we understand as to how the Chinese diplomacy in Kathmandu functions? This scribe was taken to task by some Indian media veterans which could still be seen in some Indian websites. One Indian academician spit venom against this scribe back in 2009, I faintly recall.

Ambassador Wu Chuntai knew about this event but took in a light manner.

Perhaps he was afraid of the NC government or its leaders ruling Nepal then.

Dahal upon return from Delhi went to China with a hope that he would be greeted by the Chinese authorities as he had been embraced in Delhi by “small men in high offices” PM Modi and the men who benefit from Dahal’s hobnob is they used to benefit during people’s war days. Dahal was Indian government’s guest together with Dr. BR Bhattarai for all along the people’s War-a war designed and brought into action by India.

However, Dahal was received by a RED vest Chinese official and in doing so China signaled Dahal what he meant for the Chinese and also where he stood in Chinese politics as regards Nepal. A mentally disturbed Dahal may have now plans under his India-measured cut-sleeves to destabilize his bête-noir PM KP Oli.

Dahal’s restlessness could be observed in his facial appearances which speak volumes as to how he is spending his days in footpath without having the power buttons.

Modi may have some secret plans for Dahal and his colleagues who now differ with Oli. Birds of same feather must flock together. Modi is bringing all under a single roof hopefully. His upcoming Nepal trip is designed to upset PM Oli.

Without Chair, Dahal can’t spend even a single minute; at least this is being rumored about him. How he waited for ten long years in Delhi at time of the people’s war is astonishing.

And here is Mr. Madhav Kumar Nepal who has found in Mr. Dahal a new friend who could be trusted in shaking the PM Oli regime as much as both could in a combined manner.

And interestingly, both the restive political animals, Mr. Nepal and Dahal, apparently enjoy the tacit backing of the entire Indian establishment whose single agenda is to kick PM Oli out from the coveted seat of Nepal PM.

Needless to say, the men who shake Nepal in the Indian administration may have converged in Kathmandu hotels and planning their next moves on how to unseat PM Oli and install a PM of Indian taste, either Mr. Nepal or if not then Prachanda, the former sheltered favorites.

PM Oli’s arrogant talks are what has been shortening his tenure in government. Oli must know this.

China may have no role or pretend to not have in the entire Oli change game but yet the Indian embassy shall exploit such opportune moments to its benefits as usual. For such occasions, some domestic servants working for South are always at “service” as Ambassador Puri has kept them in good shape and form expectedly.  Ambassador Puri is an expert of “micro-management”, we have been told. This topic is of special interest to him, this has also come to our notice.

Ambassador Puri has made a great leap forward in the recent days in that he has tentatively managed to convince a small pocket of Nepali academicians residing in America who have begun making subtle remarks against the Oli government’s favor in granting mega projects to China. The academicians mean that in doing so, Oli has summarily ignored Indian companies. Ambassador Puri’s approach in the US must be appreciated.

“Nevertheless, Nepal’s decision to give the Arun III to India also did not follow the standard procedure but in any case, it is in Nepal’s interest to stick with legal process than ad-hoc decision makings. “

It is this sentence that balances the whole write up published in the US or else Ambassador Puri’s penetrating approach could be felt clearly.

Mr. Nepal all of a sudden has become vocal against PM Oli. This sudden change at least is not unusual for this scribe who knows Mr. Nepal’s restiveness when not in power, which should then mean that appropriate signals have already entered Nepal and Mr. Nepal has caught the right signals in Hertz’s.

Having said all these, one event that is boggling Kathmandu observers is why Mr. Nepal has been invited by China when China understands that Mr. Nepal is not its cup of tea but yet the motive of his fresh trip to China is really very difficult to understand. Or is it Chinese quiet diplomacy? Let Mr. Nepal’s friendship with China grow in the days to come which perhaps we shall fail to see in our own life time. Is it a brain wash ploy?

As if Mr. Nepal and Dahal’s anger against PM Oli were not enough, Mr. JN Khanal too has joined the cavalcade that has targeted their pointed guns towards PM Oli.

This means that three AK47-India Make-Rifles (hopefully) are all set to shake the foundation of the already shaken Oli’s power structure. Oli’s long absence from Nepal has awarded this opportunity to Mr. Nepal, Dahal and Khanal to work in concert with the single aim which is to unseat PM Oli.

PM Oli too needs a shock of Himalayan order as his utterances are too rude and brute not becoming of a country’s Prime Minister.

The Nirmala pant Rape case is sure to bring Oli down to foot path should the investigation go the way it should. People have begun demanding the resignation of the sitting Home Minister

Mr. Ram Thapa who also spent some good ten years in Delhi along with his boss Prachanda.

  Thus he needs no more introduction.

Oli’s rough and tough utterances have irked the national population giving an impression that “less educated” people apparently talk in a manner to what our PM prefers to talk. He, however, has already bagged three honorific doctoral degrees. He is more than educated now.

PM Oli instead of touring Costa Rica should have made a modest visit to the SAARC Capitals in order to almost revive the India killed regional body-the SAARC.

The manner the Indian FM Swaraj boycotted the SAARC council of ministers meet chaired by Nepal is an insult of this country whose leaders drop in Delhi to get blessed. This has become a routine affair unfortunately.

This then should not be taken as an insult by those who get blessed in Delhi. But for the nationalists who do not bend in Delhi is an insult of the highest order and Nepal must sound Delhi that if Delhi doesn’t correct its “insult Nepal policy” then Nepal is free to scrap its membership from the BIMSTEC to begin with.

Nepal should learn some lessons from the new Pakistani Prime Minister on how to observe and bring into effect the austerity measures and take steps that ensure equal treatment for Pakistan while dealing with the US.

Let’s now talk something about the new developments in CPEC:

The next development of CPEC will be based on Pakistan’s socio-economic priorities so says Pakistani Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani said on last Friday that Pakistan was committed to completing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and will support China over issues of its core interests.

Such statements have come at a time when the western and the Indian media have targeted the CPEC projects and have been disseminating news that “Chinese debt trap” shall eat up Pakistan in some years. China says that such statements are all nonsense.

Even the Indian lobby has begun writing on Nepal as China is also thinking on how to bring Nepal into the much publicized debt trap.

The Senate chairman made the remarks during a function held in Islamabad, adding that Pakistan values relations with China as the bilateral relationship is the corner stone of Pakistan’s foreign policies, Xinhua reported last week.

Notably, Senator Mushahid Hussain too has spoken on these lines in the recent days. He is vocal and has been favoring the CPEC since the very beginning.

“Political transition in Pakistan will not affect Pakistan’s China policy and the new government will continue working closely with China to achieve our bilateral objections,” Sanjrani said at the Chinese embassy in Islamabad.

The Senate chairman said the Pakistani people appreciate China’s support over Pakistan’s core issues of national security and vowed his country will continue to stick to the one-China policy and support China on issues of its core interests.

He also hailed China as a model of economic growth to the low income countries in Asia, Africa and South America, adding that Pakistan appreciates and supports the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and vision of shared prosperity and win-win cooperation.

Before we wind up, let us look into the latest from Korean Peninsula which of late has taken a sigh of relief which is due to the extra energy shown by Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in who has over these months accomplished task that were simply taken as impossible till the recent past. He has set the peace ball rolling and chances have brightened that Peace shall dawn in the troubled Peninsula should the initiated efforts continue until the desired goals are achieved.

The Korean envoy in Nepal Youngsik Park said the other day that the recent meet of the leaders of the two Koreas in Pyongang have eased the tension in Korean peninsula and he hoped that a day will soon come when the separated families of the Koreans, after the  war, hall meet each other as one nation after the grand unification hopefully. The Korean envoy made these observations while marking the national day celebration of Republic of Korea in Himalaya Hotel Lalitpur October 2, 2018.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, following talks in Pyongyang , reiterated their shared desire to see the Korean peninsula “turned into a land of peace that is free of nuclear weapons and nuclear threats, so writes Daryl G Kimbell early October 2018.

He further writes that “In their Sept. 19 joint statement, the two leaders agreed on the need to take tangible steps toward resolving the nuclear issue, stating that “substantial progress toward this end must be made in a prompt manner.”

Moon’s diplomacy puts additional pressure on North Korea and the United States to resolve their diplomatic impasse over the terms for Kim giving up his nuclear arsenal on a short timetable. At the same time, Moon’s active efforts to lower tensions and expand cooperation contrasts with U.S. President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy, including sanctions intended to squeeze the Kim regime economically.

President Moon is more or less like a catalyst for both the US and the North Korean leader(s) whose strenuous efforts have pressed both the strong men to inch closer for finding common good that bring in permanent peace in the entire region and satisfies the countries’ prime concerns.

In the mean time, the Pakistan Foreign Minister while talking with a select gathering of the intellectuals and media men in the US has said that “my talks with Secretary Bolton and Mike Pompeo had been concentrated on arresting further slide in Pakistan-US relations”.

“My aim is to reset the bilateral ties that benefits the entire region” added. Mehmood Qureshi.

Qureshi said that there was a “convergence” between the governments in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US to seek a peace settlement to end the Afghan war. But the Taliban have so far refused to negotiate directly with Kabul saying that they want to talk with the US, which has about 14, 000 troops in the country.

Peace in Afghanistan is not possible without active cooperation of Pakistan. The US can’t ignore this country-the longtime ally of the US.