N.P. Upadhyaya, Kathmandu: With the “near to correct” rumors that Nepal’s national hero Prachanda who is equally popular in New Delhi also has gave his positive nod to the mighty US administration that he would willingly extend his unconditional support to the USs designed Indo-Pacific strategy, a section of the Nepali intelligentsia are not that surprised in this regard simply because Prachanda is the weakest political personality in Nepal who can go to any extent in serving a person or for that matter a country if such an intimacy benefits him personally.

His swinging skill must be appreciated.

Like the politically inclined Nepali scholars and the media alike, Prachanda who already has mastered the sophisticated art of “submission” from his Delhi hibernation days may have assured the US officials that he would be available at the needed time and place if such a presence, as summoned by the US, benefitted him politically.

The rumor takes a different form, in a sense more dangerous one, when one notices that Prachanda who has already served the Indian regime in the past has only added some strength to the US brain child-the Indo-Pacific strategy as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in its just released 2019 election manifesto has said of the Indo-Pacific strategy that, (sic), “should the party be re-elected it would lay great emphasis on strengthening relations with the nations along the Pacific region.

“Act East Policy, cooperation with ASEAN and ensuring an open, inclusive, prosperous and secure Indo-Pacific will be pursued vigorously,” the BJP’s manifesto reads or say Modi’s terror machine reads.

The feku Indian PM Modi has promised to give more thrust to his “neighborhood-first” policy under international forums like the India’s tail BIMSTEC (Bangladesh-India-Myanmar-Sri Lanka-Thailand-Nepal-Bhutan.

After Bhutan, Nepal has freshly agreed to serve the Indian Union as a protectorate a la Bhutan. India must thanks the exported Republican order.

While Modi gives more emphasis to the BIMSTEC conglomerate but summarily ignores the well-established Regional body-the SAARC.

In a way the SAARC stands stabbed by PM Modi’s Hindu terror machine BJP.

It is here that the South Asian population understand the real motive of the flamboyant Indian PM who is the prime source that exports terrorism in Nepal and the rest of the South Asian countries. Pakistan is the number one victim and Nepal follows next thanks the impotent Nepal’s political animals who apparently have sold their heart and soul to some alien forces for some material gains, it is highly believed.

New Delhi has some added advantages in controlling Nepal as some Nepali nationals are believed to be inside the RAW net who even pass on secret political and security matters to the nearest Indian “receiving” agency who reports to Delhi the next second.

Says Swagat Nepal, a rising advocate in the Nepali legal domain who guarantees that Nepali media men were the real source of passing secret information(s) to the foreigners and in saying so Mr. Nepal even claims that media men in Nepal have a habit to hang around the foreign envoy(s) and publish stories that talks high of the envoys they accompany.

In effect, it is the Indian Ambassador who is the most loved one by the Nepali media. The reasons could be guessed without explaining the details.

On the contrary, the Indian Congress manifesto has offered clear hopes of working with SAARC to improve regional ties, something the Modi government has been unwilling to. The “Congress will work with SAARC and ASEAN countries to enhance the volume of trade, investments, tourism and cultural exchanges and reap the benefits of geographical proximity,” the party manifesto released by Congress president Rahul Gandhi says.

The tone of commitments on sensitive issues – military budgets, terrorism, Pakistan and Kashmir – looked tempered by a necessity to not yield the nationalist space to Mr Modi.

In the meanwhile, elections have already been held in India Occupied Kashmir.

The first phase of polling on April 11 saw a turnout of over 54 per cent till 5 pm, in Jammu and Baramulla constituencies. There are four more phases — on April 18, 23, 29 and May 6.
While the parties fight it out at the hustings, the average Kashmiri, especially the young, desires peace and stability above all else. Education, employment and healthcare are the topmost concerns. It remains to be seen if these general elections can deliver any of that, so writes Nissar Ahmad.

Now that, if one were to recall, Comrade Prachanda came close to India during the BJP regime then led by Atal Behari Bajpayee and now that if Modi’s BJP this time also gets elected then Prachanda shall be reminded of his old connections with the BJP of that time and now be told to serve the Indo-Pacific strategy as per the promise made by the BJP’s election manifesto.

Nepal’s national hero who claims that he rightfully deserves to be awarded with the next Nobel Peace Prize shall hopefully be subjected to a test wherein the US may tactfully bargain with Prachanda forwarding its conditional proposal which may talk of “if Prachanda helps supports the USs Indo-Pacific strategy then only he could be left untouched or else failing to act as per the desires of the US could be summoned by the Hague tribunal.

Logic demands that Prachanda should agree to the conditions put forth by the US and seconded by the Indian regime after the polls and serve as per the instructions coming as it would be from Washington and Delhi.

Failing to do so may endanger his political personality.

He will join the Indo-Pacific club because he has some personal scores to be settled with China-Nepal’s northern neighbor.

To recall, during Prachanda’s last trip to China, he was not awarded the love and honor to which Prachanda expected. Prachanda expected China to greet him the Delhi’s way.

In fact China ignored Prachanda concluding that he was the tested and the trusted man of the Indian regime.

Prachanda returned Kathmandu with a pale face.

Thus it is high time for Prachanda to serve the Indo-Pacific strategy and settle his scores with China.

If need be, Prachanda can even dismantle Oli’s regime.

A section of the Nepali observers opine that Indo-Pacific strategy has specially been designed to tease and irritate China and that since its existence is meant to disturb China so as a good and reliable neighbor Nepal must not align itself in any political acts that irritates China.

Understood. But it is unfair not to be a part of any efforts made by extraneous forces and that too by the US is simply unacceptable for Nepal.

Nepal must not frustrate the US political overtures as long as such acts serve the development purposes of Nepal.

US being a long time problem free and oldest friend of Nepal, mature observers thus opine that it would be in the interest of Nepal if she supports the US initiative and extracts benefits that US is willing to award this longtime friend.

The credit goes to the US whose efforts eradicated malarial diseases from Nepal once and for all. This help must be admired.

However care must be taken that Nepal doesn’t align itself in any of the military alliances.

Being the founding member of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) Nepal should make sincere efforts that distances itself from being a part of any power blocks.

This is Nepal’s compulsion.

A career diplomat who has served the nation for decades and decades has talked sense on this issue.

Dr. Ram Bhakta Thakur, the former Ambassador of Nepal to Egypt says, April 8, 2019, to put in his own words, (sic) “Nepal can play a positive role in the stream of Indo-Pacific strategy. Simply it needs skilled man power and apt diplomacy to handle the complicated issue (that it is). Being a NAM member State doesn’t mean that we should not develop or chart our own growth policy. We can do that without being an instrument of any power block. It will ultimately help us in becoming a developed country over time, say within 25-30 years. I consider it as a boon than a bane”.

This observation from a seasoned diplomat perhaps is timely to encourage Nepal to reap the benefits from this US designed Strategy. However, as stated earlier, Nepal must not become an instrument against China-our northern neighbor.

Nepal should adopt dynamic neutrality, as forwarded by Gaurav Rana, the former Nepal Army Chief.

Observers believe that China also understands the Nepali compulsions and behave with Nepal accordingly.

Now let’s take stock of the South Asian politics that has been dominated by the tension that exists in between the two SA giants and rivals, India and Pakistan over the overly stretched issue of Kashmir.

World class Indian litterateur Ms. Arundhati Roy in her novel “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness talks about one of the characters in the said Novel that “if the Kashmiris have failed to gain independence from India, at least in struggling for it they have exposed the corruption in the Indian system of governance.

While Ms. Roy has this blunt say on Kashmir issue then from across the border Pakistan’s foreign minister says that his government has “reliable intelligence” that India was planning an attack next week.

While making remarks on Pakistan’s state broadcaster PTV Sunday, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said India was plotting a “new aggression” between April 16 and 20.

Qureshi said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had given his armed forces the green light for attacking targets both in Kashmir and Pakistan.

Modi has hinted the Indian Army that “you have the blanket permission to carry out action. They (heads of armed forces) say, ‘We have selected targets which are of a military nature. And it is not essential that those targets would be limited to Kashmir … So, a new talk of military action is going on there and a new message about a military action is being given out to the Indian Army,” the foreign minister said recently.

The Indian side denied the Pakistani speculations.

Observers in Nepal opine that Modi’s terror machine may hit Pakistan to woo the Indian voters for he has to win the elections at any cost.

But those who have studied PM Modi’s inner corrupt mind, say that Modi if reelected then India’s break up can’t be ruled out.

To begin with the Khalistan could be a new country in South Asia. The chances remain high. The 2020 referendum is approaching. 

In the meantime, the Civilians in Indian occupied Kashmir have been banned from using the only highway out of the disputed region for two days each week to allow Indian security personnel to be safely moved in and out.

The South Asian situation continues to be the victim of Indian whims. If Modi wins the election, then Nepal should await for yet another blockade. This has become sure for an important country in the Persian Gulf and very recently the Russian federation have honored the most hated personality in South Asia with their state award and honor. The timing of the award is a designed one which clearly encourages the Indian voters to vote in favor of the Hindu terror machine in India led by PM Modi.

As if these decorations were not enough, the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan too has recently said he thinks there may be a better chance of peace talks with India if Prime Minister Narendra Modi wins the 2019 Lok Sabha polls which has begun already.

Is PM Khan already an exhausted and defeated political personality? Or he is playing politics with the Hindu terror machine Chief? Or is he hand in glove with the Hindu fundamentalist?
Whatever it may be, the fact is that PM Khan must have annoyed his nationals who have reposed trust on him concluding that he would act like a political deterrent to India.

Imran Khan said that if the next Indian government were led by the opposition Congress party, it might be too scared to seek a settlement with Pakistan over Kashmir, fearing a backlash from the right.

“Perhaps if the BJP – a right-wing party – wins, some kind of settlement in Kashmir could be reached,” Imran Khan told a small group of foreign journalists in an interview.

“I never thought I would see what is happening in India right now,” said the former international cricket star. “Muslim-ness is being attacked.”

However, some mature observers in Nepal believe that PM Khan is just befooling PM Modi by favoring BJP’s victory in the ongoing polls, but from the very heart Khan is closer to the Indian

Congress because an educated enemy is better than a foolish friend. Just guess who is what in India for PM Khan. That’s all.