NP Upadhyaya, Kathmandu: Amidst political fluidity in Nepal, the United States of America has approached Nepal’s corrupt government headed by Communist leader K.P. Sharma Oli to play a “central role” in the US “Indo-Pacific Region”.

This proposal was pushed to Nepal by US’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo when Nepal’s Foreign Minister Pradip Gyawali visited Washington D.C, 18 December, 2018.

Listening to this lucrative proposal, the pro-India government of Nepal perhaps provided its positive nod (secretly) to the US political overture. Secretly, because Nepal does not want to annoy its northern neighbor China.

However, pundits of International relations in Kathmandu claim that Nepal as an active member of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) must not enter into any ‘strategic alliance’ for multiple reasons more so not to be a part of any game that in some way or the other is aimed at containment of China.

To recall, the US is on record to have openly encouraged India way back in 2013 when the then Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton delivering a lecture at the Mumbai University suggested India not only to lead the South Asian politics but look beyond as well which clearly meant that the US preferred to handover the managerial authority of this part of the world to the Indian regime with a hope that China could be tamed or contained eventually.

However, Pakistani scholars having in-depth knowledge on International politics got the point instantly.

One veteran and vocal Pakistani senator, Mushahid Hussain has been saying since a decade or so that a “Great Game” is being played for the containment of China.

Has the US appeal made to Nepal something to do with Hussain’s presumption? Let it be a matter of intense debate for the pundits of international relations here and beyond.

Mr. Hussain now talks of greater South Asia which includes China, Iran and the entire central Asian Republics excluding India.

However, India has the liberty to join or reject its inclusion in the Greater South Asian scheme.

Some brains in Nepal too have taken the US appeal as a ploy which is to bring some sort of enmity in between Nepal and China. Take it for granted.

On the other hand views are also being expressed by Nepali experts urging political leadership in Nepal not to lose this “golden” opportunity to play “central role” as requested by the United States.

Anil Sigdel, an expert on international relations based in Washington D.C claims that Nepal must not lose this “golden” opportunity as playing the central role, as appealed by the US, for freeing itself from the current continued hegemony of the giant neighbors, India and China.

Sigdel thinks that in doing so Nepal has nothing to lose but analysts believe that in such a situation Nepal will most likely be a part of the US game which encourages India in order to isolate China and (Pakistan also) in this part of greater South Asia and beyond.

In effect, observers see it as a “structured” US ploy to destabilize China, contrary to Mr. Sigdel’s assertion, by making Nepal the launching pad.

If so then how China would retaliate will definitely be a matter of curiosity as well. Since the US understands better that Nepal’s communist regime is under the complete control of the Indian regime- the new satellite of the US, could well be seduced and later convincingly used to contain China.

Nepal’s importance lay in its geo-strategic location in South Asia. To contain China, Nepal could be the best location and this reality the US knows better.

India has been playing the Dalai Lama Card against China since its birth in 1947.

However, International observers in Kathmandu believe that Nepal should refrain from providing platform to forces that have always resisted the peaceful rise of China and becoming part of an alliance whose goal is primarily to destabilize China.

Whatever may have been the US motive behind seeking Nepal’s central role in the entire plan of the Indo-Pacific strategy, the appeal itself in many more ways than one has enhanced Nepal’s prestige in the comity of nations, as summarized by Mr. Anil Sigdel, which concurrently speaks of Nepal’s strategic importance in South Asia.

Does it mean then that the US looks Nepal not through the Indian lens as believed?

Nepal’s foreign minister though has denied that he has accepted the US request to play a key role in the Indo-Pacific strategy, but some cynical observers believe that the minister may not have rejected the appeal either.

High placed sources claim that the US approached Nepal for the key role only when convinced by the Indian regime-the new stallion of the US establishment. 

After British left India, Indian leaders have voluntarily submitted their country to the Soviet Union first and with the demise of the communist block they have surrendered to the United States. Unfortunately, Indian leaders have repeatedly shown that they are genetically fit for slavery.  

Be that as it may, writes one analyst from Nepal, Mr. Bhim Bhurtel, “Minister Gyawali’s visit turned out to be counter-productive to himself and his government because he was heavily maligned at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) over statements issued by his ministry and the US State Department after the bilateral talks”.

This means that Nepal FM’s statement as regards the US appeal made to Nepal could not even get positive sanction from his own political party. This is unfortunate.

The statements of the two countries not only differed in terms of the narrative but also contradicted each other, adds Mr. Bhurtel. Nepal’s statement didn’t include its role in the Indo-Pacific strategy, whereas the US statements speaks of “Nepal’s central role in a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and global issues, including North Korea.” As a result, editorials in the main dailies in Nepal said that the US tried to turn the country against its northern neighbor, China. This perhaps explains as to how FM Gyawali’s trip to the US was taken in his own home country.

Foreign-policy experts in Kathmandu see the high-level visits the US has arranged since Washington began to sell its Indo-Pacific Strategy (known as the Asia Pivot Strategy during Barack Obama administration) to Nepal as being mostly about containing China.

India is the crucial partner in the Indo-Pacific alliance, being both on the Indian Ocean and having territory in the Himalayas, adds Mr. Bhurtel.

And this approach has been made at a time when the US learnt through its sleuths that China has already penetrated into the Afghanistan peace process. To recall, three days ahead of the US plea to play a key role in the Indo-Pacific plan, China kept engaged itself together with Pakistan and Afghanistan for a tri-lateral comprehensive peace initiative on December 15, 2018. The entire idea of the US is to tease China and isolate Pakistan but encourage its new political horse-India.

And just three days later of this Chinese secret initiative, December 18, 2018 to be more precise, Nepal was appealed by the US for playing the key role in its strategy perhaps with a grand thought that Nepal if ballooned and seduced could be easily used through its corrupt leaders now ruling the country to tease China.

“She smiled and I concluded that she has fallen in love with me”, is what could be drawn from the US-Nepal meet last December meet.

Minister Gyawali’s immediate conclusion that Nepal’s global approach has been enhanced with the US appeal, however, Nepal has to remain alert in sensing the inner motive of the US. Well, enhancing greater political contacts with the US is simply superb but yet Nepal must not forget the fact that it is one of the founding fathers of the Non Aligned Movement and the very geostrategic location of this country demands that Nepal in no way be a part of any strategic alliance which teases ultimately its two giant neighbors.

Intelligent brains in Nepal guess that the US may have assured Nepal of a huge financial support in lieu of this central role game. The Nepali minister has preferred to remain tight lipped in this regard.

Minister Gyawali though has rebuked the media claim in Kathmandu that Nepal responded positively to the US plea, however, the US side beamingly asserts that Nepal gave a positive nod to the US offer. It is this contradiction that has made the common people of Nepal to think as to what would happen to this country’s nonaligned status if it gets carried away and becomes part of the game to destabilize the emerging Super power-China?

“We have an independent and a balanced foreign policy”, is what Minister Gyawali said while talking to the “all-system-friendly” Nepal’s vibrant media.

Thanks he did not mention the ground reality that Nepal of late more so after the 2005-6 political change has been adjusting its foreign policy as dictated by the Indian regime. Hopefully, the newly appointed Chinese Ambassador to Nepal will keep this fact in her diplomatic brain and also watch the unpredictable Nepali fluctuations into proper account.

The arrival of the Japanese foreign minister, Mr. Taro Kono, to Nepal also adds the needed significance to the US desire that Nepal play a key role in the Indo-Pacific scheme of things. Japan, the bete noir of China, is a key country in the US designed Indo-Pacific strategy, it must not be forgotten. And the arrival of the French foreign Secretary to Nepal too has complicated the entire politics and forces one to think as to why all of a sudden the arrival of foreign dignitaries from far flung countries who in many more ways than one are believed to be aligned with the US strategy and were allies of the US since long?

Quad includes Japan.

The unannounced arrival Thursday of the Commander of United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) Admiral Philip S. Davidson in Kathmandu on a two-day official visit has surprised many a brains here.

“This visit has been viewed as meaningful as it has taken place for the first time in the period of 15 years after the United States of America invited Nepal’s high official to hold talks on the bilateral interest”, writes the Republica news portal.

To recall, Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali had met with his American counterpart United States Secretary of State Michael Richard Pompeo on December 18 last year as stated earlier.

The meeting had dwelled on bilateral interest and Indo-Pacific strategies, claimed sources in Washington.

America is seen to have stepped up its influence in the Indo-Pacific region at a time when China has been intensifying its regional influence through BRI strategy.

Davidson was received by Major General Gaurab Tandul, Director General of Army Training and Doctrine at the Tribhuvan International Airport.
So with this sudden development, let’s presume that soon one of the Quad member, Australia, may send its high flying minister to Nepal to convince the radical communist government to come to the fold of the US.

The US has increased making its influence on Nepal at a time when China is having trade difficulties with the US.

But one has to applaud the US trick to use the Corrupt Communists of Nepal to destabilize a communist regime in China. The US deserves appreciation.
Interestingly, Mr. Davidson was in Delhi, a prominent Quad member, prior to his arrival in Kathmandu.

This makes his unexpected arrival here more suspicious. Acknowledging the rapid expansion of the Chinese Navy in recent years, especially in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the four countries of the Quad on Wednesday in Delhi had stressed on improving interoperability and evolving a “common maritime awareness picture” while not attributing any military angle to the grouping which is seen as a counter to China’s expansion. “Free and open Indo-pacific is not a containment strategy for China. We are not asking people to choose between U.S. and China,” Admiral Philip Davidson, Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said during a discussion at the Raisina Dialogue held in New Delhi. Navy Chiefs and top Navy officers of India, Australia, Japan and the U.S. were present along with the Australian Army Chief, so claim the Indian media sources.

What transpired in between the US Admiral and the men in the Nepal government has not been made public but yet his sudden arrival must have sent spine chilling waves to the North. That’s all.