The three leaders' meeting and trilateral cooperation
- By Ritu Raj Subedi
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E-mail China.org.cn, October 27, 2016
Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda was all agog when he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a lounge of hotel in Goa on the sidelines of the recent BRICS Summit. The Indian PM suddenly entered the room when Prachanda and Xi were holding talks.
PM Prachanda called the meeting as rare and happy coincidence and utilized it to sell his idea of trilateral cooperation between Nepal, China and India.
"I expressed Nepal's desire to be a dynamic bridge between India and China," said the Nepalese PM, adding that he put forward the idea of trilateral strategic cooperation and that both leaders described the proposal as positive.
The news of the meeting was greeted with an explosion of media interest at home. Of course, it was an unusual and symbolic parley that reflected the amity and cordiality between the leaders of the three neighboring countries.
Sadly, Prakash Dahal, the personal secretary of PM Prachanda, exaggerated the meeting to score diplomatic points only to receive backfire on social media. He wrote on his Facebook page that it was a trilateral meeting.
In fact, it was a meeting that happened by coincidence, but the ham-fisted approach of Dahal dampened the positive vibes generated by it.
Vikas Swarup, spokesman for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, was quick to comment that it was not a trilateral event. On the other hand, the Chinese Foreign Ministry had not commented on the nature of the meeting.
Interestingly, a section of Nepalese media and commentators raised their eyebrows over the abrupt entry of Indian PM Modi into the room where Prachanda and Xi were talking. Some detractors called his dropping in an encroachment of privacy and violation of diplomatic norms. Some other argued that Modi could not enter the lounge without informing Xi.
Nonetheless, disputation over the "trilateral meeting" hardly casts a shadow on the importance and prospect of trilateral cooperation and partnership between Nepal, India and China, which Nepal has been pushing for since 2008.
China is positive about the concept while India is still hesitant to accept it. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that trilateral partnership would be good for regional stability and development. "Nepal and India are China's friendly neighbors. We believe that positive interactions will promote economic and social development for the three countries," she said during a regular press briefing on Oct. 17.
India is not ready to buy the notion, largely because of its colonial mindset. It still thinks of Nepal as its traditional domain and does not like to include China in its dealings with Nepal. India seems to think that it does not need to walk down the "dynamic bridge" of Nepal to execute economic relations with China under a trilateral partnership.
A sense of trepidation gripped India when China pushed for closer economic ties with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Maldives, pouring large investments into their strategic projects. Now economic cooperation between China and these three South Asian nations has grown significantly. With this, they have regained more confidence and a stronger position vis-a-vis India.
Against this backdrop, the three nations should begin exploring the possibility of trilateral cooperation.
"Nepal should convince India of the benefits of trilateral cooperation. It should offer convincing logic and bases to rope the southern neighbor into the trilateral framework," said Dr Jay Raj Acharya, Nepal's former Permanent Representative to the United Nations while talking to this author.
"The trilateral cooperation should mainly cover trade, energy and communications. This will tremendously benefit Nepal," he said.
But, there is lack of vision and clear thinking from the Nepalese leadership in realizing the ambitious proposal. As a result, the grand idea has merely been confined to informal talks. PM Prachanda first put forth the idea with former Chinese President Hu Jintao during his first premiership some eight years ago. Since then, there have not been any serious deliberations on the subject.
Nepal should first take the two neighbors into its confidence with regard to the feasibility of trilateral cooperation. They should reach a tripartite consensus and form a mechanism for the concept to take off. It is beyond doubt that the proposal holds huge potential to boost connectivity, economic and cultural cooperation, while reducing geopolitical tension in the region.
Ritu Raj Subedi is an associate editor of The Rising Nepal.
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
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