Thursday, August 25, 2005

House Revival Possibilities


  1. Revive House.
  2. Form All Party Government.
  3. Hold Unconditional Peace Talks With Maoists.
  4. Organize Constituent Assembly Elections.
That is the official agenda of the seven party coalition. If the first were to be achieved, the rest would go pretty fast. The first has been the impossible knot so far. If the Supreme Court can save the day by untying that first knot, things would really look good. The civil war would end.

My stand againt item 1 had been that the Supreme Court had said it will not do it, and the king did not have the option to unless he stretched Article 127 for the parliament the way he has outstretched it for himself, and even if he had, he would not do it: that was my political reading of the situation. So move onto steps 2,3 and 4. That is what I was saying.

But if the Supreme Court will make step 1 possible, I am all for it. My interest is in step 4.

In The News


SC begins review on House dissolution verdict NepalNews The Supreme Court Thursday started hearing on a writ petition demanding review on its earlier verdict that upheld the decision of then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to dissolve the House of Representatives in May 2002........ A full bench of the apex court including Chief Justice Dilip Poudel began hearing on the writ filed by advocates Dhruba Koirala and Sunil Chandra Poudel three years ago....... This brings to an end the earlier stand of the apex court not to hear cases on parliament reinstatement - as demanded by the political parties - in the light of its previous verdict....... Opposition political parties had brought a case to the SC, challenging Deuba’s decision to dissolve the House, which failed to impress the SC full bench headed by then Chief Justice Keshab Prasad Upadhaya....... CJ Poudel who, perhaps coincidently, was not in the full bench that upheld Deuba’s decision King likely to agree to the demand of House restoration: report NepalNews A Maoist mouthpiece has claimed that His Majesty King Gyanendra has reportedly agreed to accept the major demand of the alliance of seven agitating parties...... a message was conveyed to former premier and Nepali Congress president G. P. Koirala, through a powerful envoy of a western country and former premier Surya Bahadur Thapa separately, that His Majesty is willing to reinstate the dissolved House immediately upon his return from New York........ Koirala decided not to launch any strong programme of protest against the royal takeover upon receiving the said message. The weekly, however, warned that the assurance could be a ploy to help succeed royal trip to the UN, not to let the resolution of a ‘republican state’ pass from the upcoming general convention of Nepali Congress and sow divisions and distrust among forces fighting against what it called ‘autocracy.’ ....... “It may not be a surprise if the palace—that has been isolated nationally as well as internationally-- chooses to reinstate the dissolved parliament,” the pro-Maoist newspaper concluded. Nepal occupies 35th position in the ranking of failing states NepalNews Police open fire at agitating students in Rajbiraj NepalNews King believes ‘they’ will come to national mainstream NepalNews Govt issues notice to prevent defaulters from assuming public posts NepalNews Koirala-Nepal meet NepalNews CIAA files corruption case against Koirala’s ex secretary NepalNews (CIAA) Thursday filed a case against Gokarna Poudel, former secretary of Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala, at the Special Court for corruption worth Rs 26.3 million..... Koirala’s secretary for more than five years since 2048 B.S..... Currently, Poudel who lives at Chundevi, Kathmandu, is at large Memories of Early Panchayat Days: Student Strikes NepalNews Student demonstrations and protests—as being evident almost every day in the Nepali capital for the past few weeks ....... It just so happened that a flagged car was trying to get through the crowd to go to Singh Durbar. It turned out that the man inside was the then Speaker of Rastriya Panchayat Rajeshwor Devkota. The crowd gathered around Devkota’s car, pounding on it, and a visibly scared Devkota got out of the car and tremblingly climbed on top of the car and assured the students that their demands will be met. It was not even clear what their demands were, but Devokota’s car was let go...... “Hey, why are you hitting me, I’m trying to run away and is not that what you want”? “Barta kura garchhas? (Talk too much?) He hit me again. Somehow I was able to avoid further beating and went home. It was curious that the instant pain was not that great, but it kept hurting for weeks to follow...... a very young student gave the one that impressed the most. Many did not yet know him and the audience was truly fired up by his impassioned speech....... and a big rumor was going around the campus that the police had killed that young fellow who had given the fiery speech. ...... That student was no other than Ram Sharan Mahat. Kantipur Editorial Team Threatened With Arrest INSN CPN (M) Statement INSN Students On Road: Morning To Afternoon Experience UWB government decided to increase the price of petroleum products by Rs. 5 per liter ...... students hurl bricks at police and the security force answer firing tear-gas shells ..... Some of my friends went downstairs while I entered the toilet on the floor. I was nearly finished when I inhaled the sharp smell and my nose and eyes started burning. I instantly knew this time the shell has landed inside our college.I quickly went downstairs covering my nose, and landing on the first floor, instantly knew I moved the wrong way because my friends were coming upstairs. We all ran upstairs to our classroom, sat below a fan with tears flowing down the cheeks for a few minutes....... Students of Biswo Bhasa Campus, adjacent to Mahendra Police Club, and Ratna Rajya Laxmi College were chanting a slogan against the king which now has becomes the protesters favorite...... In between, police arrested a young guy and put him into the police van with some of the police officials kicking him. He was trying to call somebody on mobile. After some minutes I saw the policeman inside the van taking control of the mobile and the young fellow frequently wiping out sweats.

Madhesi Hum Lenge Sau Mein Pachas



That is the real story for me in this movement. For the first time in history, the Madhesis in Nepal are on the verge of attaining political equality.

You get blamed for all the unequal treaty and arrangements the Pahadi honchos entered the country into and continue to do: like with India and the British. The honchos feel closer to the Indians in Sikkim and Darjeeling than they do to you. The few Madhesis who could and should speak up have so internalized the prejudice, their favorite party to dislike is the Sadbhavana.

Hridayesh Tripathy
The Kathmandu Media Ignores The Sadbhavana
Caste Discrimination Leads To War
Sangram Morcha: A New Political Party (1993)
Badri Mandal: Sadbhavana's RPP Face
Peace First, Then Democracy, Democracy First, Then Social Justice
Common Minimum Program: Constituent Assembly
Phone Talk With Hridayesh Tripathy
Madhesi Rights: Abhi Nahin To Kabhi Nahin
Pradip Giri: DaMaJaMa
Tibetans And Madhesis
Phone Interview With Rajendra Mahato
Hridayesh Tripathy In Delhi: Good News

Autocracy is superior to democracy, but it never occurred to a Girija Koirala to nominate a Mahendra Narayan Nidhi to be Deputy Prime Minister. It was King G who elevated a Madhesi to that chair: Badri Mandal, for all this Panchayati tendencies and political flaws.

A Madhesi really has to seek a political alliance with the Maoists to wake up the democrats. Help snuff out their violence, and encourage their social agenda. Or the Bahun democrats refuse to listen.

Defending The Sadbhavana

Look at the king's cabinet now? How many Madhesis does he have? He is not doing that much better than a Girija or a Manmohan or a Deuba. You always end up with a few token Madhesis.

Rights are earned. They are not had as gifts. And now is the time to earn it. The ongoing movement is the platform. The democrat Bahuns need Madhesi help to turn the movement a success, and they are going to have to give ground like they never did during the 1990s. This is the time. It will not be later. It will be now. Enough is enough.

On the monarchy issue, there can be compromises. The country might or might not go republican. Although I have often thought if a republican setup might not be politically more palatable to the Madhesis. A Madhesi could end up president.

But there is to be no compromise on the issue of federalism. Decentralization talk is sham. There has to be federalism: states with their own legislatures.

(1) Federalism.
(2) Parliamentary constituencies demarcated on near equal population sizes.
(3) Political recognition of Hindi as the lingua franca in the Terai.

What democracy without equality for half the country?

The 1990 constitution was an act of back-stabbing the Madhesis as the other marginalized groups. That document is dead for good. The country is in political suspended animation.

The Madhesi political consciousness has to be raised, and a broad DaMaJaMa alliance has to be formed. That alliance could have major electoral ramifications also post-democracy.

In The News
  • Guerrillas abduct over 100 people in Nepal Xinhua, China The guerrillas force the civilians, teachers and students to take part in their "ideological" programs and usually free them after a few days unharmed.
  • Nepal govt in talks warning Calcutta Telegraph, India Nepal’s royalist government urged opposition parties today to call off proposed talks with Maoist rebels, saying they were playing into the hands of the guerrillas to sow fresh divisions in the troubled kingdom....... the rebels were trying to create a rift between the parties and the government
  • UML won't go for republican set up: Nepal Kantipur Online, Nepal ..... "UML will not go it alone for republic without having unity among NC and other political parties in the seven-party alliance." ...... Nepal said the party should adopt republicanism as a "publicity slogan", and constituent assembly election for absolute democracy to end the autocratic reign...... KP Sharma Oli had urged the party to go for special general convention by mid-June 2006 for strengthening and democratizing the party organization
  • UML likely to abandon constitutional monarchy Kantipur Online ..... decided to forward the proposal of ceremonial monarchy as a consensual agenda....... Standing Committee meeting also proposed to call a National Council meeting sometime in January..... Pradip Nepal, UML standing committee member, said the party is all set to give up constitutional monarchy and go for ceremonial monarchy....... unanimity among all central leaders on constituent assembly election to formulate a new constitution ...... Almost all the central leaders have spoken for negotiation but not coordination with Maoists ..... Pokharel and Pradip Gyawali have jointly submitted a 30-point paper demanding early convention, organizational restructuring in the party and resignation of the entire Standing Committee which decided on joining the Deuba government in the past
  • UML Young Brass for Republic Himalayan Times Ex-general secretary of the union, Ghanshyam Bhusal, said the UML has lost its position among the people due to its several unacceptable decisions and the party needs to be “upgraded”...... Tanka Karki, the coordinator of the Ex-Students’ Council, said, “Republican set-up should be the immediate goal of the ongoing agitation.” ..... However, UML central leaders present at the programme remained tight-lipped on making republican set-up as a party agenda and calling general convention of the party.
  • UML 'to follow' Koirala on republican issue Kathmandu Post "Since the ongoing movement and general convention were complementary to each other, it would be wrong to say that the general convention would disrupt the ongoing movement," Oli argued.
  • UML youths favor republic Kathmandu Post, Nepal ..... the party's student and youth leaders have strongly urged the party to decide on a republic....... Tanka Karki, coordinator of the recently formed Ex-ANNFSU Council, an association of former ANNFSU leaders, said that the party must give up constitutional monarchy and make the republic the main agenda of the joint movement. "Since the king has already violated the agreement made with the people, the UML should not stick to the agreement" ......... Shankar Pokharel, UML central leader, said the UML should go for a democratic republic...... UML should respect the voice of its cadres ...... early convention of the party is required ..... Khim Lal Bhattarai, president of the ANNFSU, the student organization of the UML, said that it would be unfortunate if the UML central committee decides against the peoples' aspirations. "The party must favor 'republic' for a decisive movement against regression" ...... The best decision the UML central committee meeting can take is to call the General Convention
  • UML Young Brass for Republic Himalayan Times, Nepal
  • Student protests flare up Three students were critically wounded and eight were arrested in the Rajbiraj incident, while about two dozen sustained injuries and two were arrested in Kathmandu. In yet another incident, six students were arrested in Baglung...... Rajbiraj, Mahesh Bhagat, a local resident of Triyuga Municipality-2, Udayapur, sustained a bullet injury on his leg...... Samir Jha, president of Free Students' Union (FSU) of Mahendra Bindeswori Multiple Campus; Ghanananda Yadav, ex-secretary of FSU; and an unidentified youth were wounded seriously...... In retaliation, students shut down Rajbiraj......
  • ‘Current NC set-up unable to meet people's aspirations’ The existing organizational structure of Nepali Congress cannot cope with the aspirations of the people and effect much desired restructuring of the state, the party's young leaders said Wednesday. They stressed the need for drastic changes in party organization and party policies in the upcoming General Convention of the party scheduled for next week........ the party in its present form cannot meet the challenges," said Dr Ram Sharan Mahat ...... "Election in key party positions can help him (Koirala) test the popularity of his possible successors" ...... collective leadership was required in the party due to lack of capacity among second generation leaders like Sushil Koirala, Shailaja Acharya and Ram Chandra Poudel, to give efficient leadership........ Most of the leaders who spoke today were in favor of removing provisions of constitutional monarchy in the party statute and allowing the constituent assembly to decide the fate of monarchy...... "When Americans were writing "WE THE PEOPLE", Nepali kings were saying "Mera Sana Dukkhale Arjyako Muluk Hoina (It is not a country conquered with my minor efforts)"....... A day after party president Koirala dismissed talks of republic, his daughter Sujata Koirala, reportedly hounded by the RCCC, said opting for republican state would be counterproductive at a time when the king and the parties are in a fragile state. "Time is yet to come for going for republican set up." A few days ago during a press conference at her residence in the capital, she had supported the call for republic.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Prachanda, Order Your Cadres To Live


When Prachanda finally surfaces, this dude is going to make world headlines. He is likely the most mysterious political figure on Planet Earth right now. Some major media outlets of global repute to this day think Padma Ratna Tuladhar is the real Prachanda. I mean, he could be anybody, right? Poor Padma Ratnaji.

The seven parties have finally woken up. And the balls are rolling. The clouds are gathering.

Prachanda is in a rather unique position to bring peace into the country. And this is not going to be a false peace. This is going to be a true peace that is accompanied by progress.

And to do that all Prachanda has to do is to do things he has himself, without external convincing has already long pledged to do. He has to execute his own plan. That is all.

The Maoists have been this rigid, hierarchical organization. Maoist fighters have willingly died because the party asked them to. You have to really wonder about that. Girija Koirala could not even order his party cadre to shut up.

But now Prachanda has to oder his cadres to live!

I hope Prachanda will do what only he can do, what he has already pledged he will do.

I would like to see a Prachanda leading his party in the national parliament competing with the very best of them to bring forth some of the most progressive legislation so as to strike at the foundations of social injustice and poverty that have plagued Nepali society.

As I have said before, steps 3,4,5 and 6 are already worked out. I hope Prachanda will not sacrifice those future steps by refusing to get creative and flexible with steps 1 and 2. He will have to make room for the fact that the seven parliamentary parties for one are inefficient. They also have mixed records from the 1990s. They have not been the most diligent when it boils down to doing homework.

The more leadership Prachanda shows now, more will be the dividends he and his party will stand to reap once peace descends upon the country.

What do I mean by being creative and flexible?
  1. If the Maoists were to unilaterally declare a ceasefire, and make it clear it will hold unless the RNA goes on another military offensive against them, do you think that will limit the RNA's options? In case you have not noticed, the RNA has fought the "image war" much more vigorously than it ever fought the military war. They will not want the world to see they breached a unilateral ceasefire announced by the Maoists.
  2. Outdo the RNA and this regime in terms of cooperating with the UN human rights people who are active in the country. Put the RNA to shame.
  3. Unilaterally engage the local cadres of all seven parties in dialogue in all the villages in the country. You don't need the permission of the leaders of those parties to do that.
  4. Codify your fundamental departure from classic Maoism. You are not sacrificing your progressive thinking. What might have been good for Mao in the China of the 1930s might not be the best stuff for Nepal today. Your already stated goal of a peaceful transformation of the state is new thinking within the communist camp. Make it official.
  5. Retrain all your local level cadres to your new thinking. The more of this you do, larger your party will be once peace is achieved. They are going to have to win hearts and minds the peaceful way. These seven parties are your potential comrades now and your future competitors within a peaceful space later.
This list is by no means exhaustive. I am sure Prachanda can come up with a much longer list of things to do in his capacity as the Maoist supremo.

Between Drinking Water And Helicopters
Logic For The Maoists
The Two Extremes
Caste Discrimination Leads To War
Proposed Democratic Republican Constitution
Project Take Over Tundikhel: Draft 1
Alliance Gathering At Queens Bridge Park
Amnestry International Report: Nepali Children Caught In Conflict
Senator Leahy To US Congress On Nepal
To: Koirala, Nepal, KC, Pokharel, Tripathy, Mahto And The Rest
Gagan Thapa Case Taken To The United Nations
2005 Young Republican National Convention (US) Resolution 1 On Nepal
Tom Daschle
UN Security Council Needs To Enforce Human Rights On A War Footing
Loktantra: Pahilo Patak
Possible Framework For A Maoist-Democrat Alliance
Kunda Dixit In Jackson Heights
Political And Military Stalemate: Democrats Stand To Tip The Balance
Seize The Moment: Match The Maoists
The Road To The White House Goes Through Nepal
Getting Interviewed By A Cornell University Student
40% Of Americans Can't Point Out The Pacific On A Map
Op-Ed Piece Sent To The New York Times
Nepali Maoists, Bihari Maoists
Power Through Political Dialogue
CPI (M), CPN (M)
Prachanda's Meaningful Statement
Constituent Assembly Will Still Be A Lot Of Work In The Form Of Political Dialogue
Sangram Morcha: A New Political Party (1993)
ICG Report: Lasting Peace
The Hardliner Democrat Approach
The Bombing Of A Bus
Power Does Not Necessarily Flow Through The Barrel Of A Gun: Maoists
The Maoists And The Democrats Giving The King Veto Power
Rabindra Mishra, An Unprofessional, Disrespectful Journalist
Prachanda Press Statement
Common Minimum Program: Constituent Assembly
Baburam Bhattarai Press Statement
The Lake Freezes At 32 Degrees Fahrenheit Like Magic
Maoist Military Victory Vs Roundtable Conference With The Maoists
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back
The Emotional Structure Of The Conflict
Phone Talk With Hridayesh Tripathy
Comrade Gonzalo Of Peru: A Profile
The Maoists Have Been Reading My Emails, Blog Entries
Dinesh Prasain Tour: Report
100 Reasons To Revive Parliament
Baburam: Prachanda's Best Bet, Litmust Test, And Only Option
Madhesi Rights: Abhi Nahin To Kabhi Nahin
Pradip Giri: DaMaJaMa
Prachanda's Letter Bomb Of 5/1
The Seven Dwarfs
Girija, Deuba, And The Rest Of Them Clowns
Email From Arzu Rana Deuba
Tibetans And Madhesis
Changing Gears
The King Will Only Respond To Internal Pressure
Prachanda: A Profile
How To Move Towards A Common Minimum Program?
The Nepali Diaspora Contradiction: Would You Like Some Tea?
Prachanda Is Angry
Hindu International (HI)
The Dinesh Prasain US Speaking Tour
The Twins Gyanendra And Prachanda Are Watching Closed-Circuit Television
Uttar Ram Tamata
I Don't Feel Sorry For The King
A Victory For The Democrats, Monarchists, Maoists
Nepali Maoists And The US Perspective
Reviving Parliament: Not An Option
This Inadequate, Improper, Insufficient 1990 Constitution
Phone Marathon II
Phone Marathon: Called Up Delhi
Koirala Disappoints: He Is The Same Worn Out Record
The Monarchists, Not The Maoists, Are Like The Al Qaeda
Online Coverage Of The Maoists
Nepal Communist Party (Progressive)
The ICG Report
To: Prachanda, Baburam, Mahara, Badal And The Rest Of The Maoist Leadership
Prime Minister-Elect Prasain: "You Have The Power!"
Doing Business With Baburam Bhattarai
Shaubhagya Shah: Autocracy 101 At Harvard
"I’m sorry Mrs Sunuwar"
eDemocracy, 4S Campaign, 24/7 Vigil For Democracy: Take Over Tundikhel
Baburam Bhattarai On A Democratic Republic
Time For The Nepali Congress To Take A Stand On The Constituent Assembly Question
Response To The Panchayati Ghost Tulsi Giri
Finally The Democrats Make Sense
Ideological Overture To The Nepali Maoists (2)
Comrade Ramesh Nath Pandey And World Revolution
Democracy: The Third Wave
Dinesh Prasain's Possible US Tour In April
Deputy Prime Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari's Daughter Speaks Out
Human Rights ----> Political Platform ----> Full-Fledged Movement
Democrats, Imagine The Worst From Monarchists/Maoists
Ideological Overture To The Nepali Maoists
Sought eDialogue with Dr. Baburam Bhattarai
Towards a Democratic Republic of Nepal

5 Steps



5 Steps To Democracy
  1. Take over power: Take Over Tundikhel.
  2. Build a democratic party, the total, transparent kind: Janata Dal Constitution.
  3. Introduce a democratic constitution into the country: Proposed Constitution.
  4. Promise rapid economic growth in the aftermath: 21st Century Nepal.
  5. Go global with it: Reorganized UN, Methods.
Project Take Over Tundikhel, Draft 2
The idea is to turn Nepal into the Ukraine for 2005. Ukraine had its Orange Revolution in 2004. I have been talking to some individuals and organizations dedicated to global democracy for funding options.

To the August 8 draft, I would like to add this: the seven political parties. A seven member committee to represent the seven parties would sit on top of the "pyramid" so as to shepherd it politically. That committee is also the interim government in waiting.

I suggest as follows:

Girija Koirala: Supreme Leader, like Ganeshman Singh was in 1990.
Madhav Nepal: Prime Minister in waiting, for leading the largest party in the country.
Hridayesh Tripathy: Deputy Prime Minister in waiting, for being the leading Madhesi democrat, the largest segment of the social DaMaJaMa coalition.
Ministers in waiting: one from each participating party, Narahari Acharya or designate, Gopalman Shrestha or designate, CP Mainali or designate, Narayan Man Bijukchhe or designate, Amik Sherchan or designate.

This group becomes the interim government through negotiation with the king or unilaterally declares itself the interim government after the movement has reached critical momentum. It is possible to negotiate with the king the possibility of a Constituent Assembly that guarantees a ceremonial monarchy. That woud be my personal first choice. But there also are options 2 and 3 on the table.

Nepal's movement for democracy is something of global importance. If an indigenous movement for democracy with external logistical support can give birth to democracy in the second poorest country on the planet, there is hope for democracy literally everywhere on the planet: through little or no loss of life, and with minimal financial expenditures.

Nepal will have provided the answer to the most vexing foreign policy debate on the American political scene. That is huge.

And if the concept of total, transparent democracy can be instituted in Nepal, heck, that democracy will be a prime target for export also into the United States itself where the progressives are really struggling to get back on track, and do so for good.

This movement is not against this or that person, this or that group. This movement is to raise the national and global political consciousness to a higher plane, a plane not seen before in human discourse.

This is cutting edge stuff.

In The News

  • Nepal's Political Parties, Maoist Rebels Consider Joining Forces Voice of America Such a coalition could help bring an end to the rebels' nine-year-long campaign of violence....... The rebels originally proposed the talks on June 29...... A seven-party political alliance has now said it would begin a dialogue with the rebels, once a committee of human rights and civil activists determines that the rebels are meeting their commitment to curtail violence. ..... on Wednesday, Maoist leader Prachanda told a Nepalese magazine that he was in favor of a peaceful settlement of the conflict....... Information and Communication Minister Tanka Dhakal told reporters that such talks would not be in the country's interests, and accused the politicians of playing into the rebels' hands......the parties are aware of the risks involved, and are approaching the proposed dialogue cautiously........ "If this dialogue leads to the political parties convincing the Maoists to declare a no-first-attack pact or unilateral ceasefire, that will be a major victory" ....... if the rebels and the parties do reach an agreement, they could prove a formidable opposition to the King.

  • Nepal presses opposition to shun Maoist rebels Reuters.uk There have been no talks between the government and the rebels, and no military progress in the war....... guerrilla leader Prachanda accepted their demand to stop killing unarmed civilians and end extortion...... Nepal's key donors, including India, Britain and the United States, have urged the king to unite with political parties against the Maoists and to restore democracy. But he is not close to any deal with the parties or the rebels.

  • Analysis: Nepal at crossroads World Peace Herald Nepal's King Gyanendra's warning to the seven-party opposition alliance against holding talks with Maoists rebel is aimed at sabotaging the possibility of unity between the two sides, a move Indian analysts say could eventually isolate the king. ....... "Any alliance between political parties would amount to the beginning of the end of monarchy in Nepal" ...... Seven political parties appealed to Maoist leader Prachanda not to harm civilians, nongovernmental organization and political workers. The request was accepted. ....... Maoist insurgents.... now control almost 90 percent of Nepalese territory......... Political party's secret parleys with Maoists insurgents have focused primarily on two issues, firstly, the workers of political parties have loud access in areas controlled by rebels and secondly they are not targeted by Maoists........ we are also actively observing whether rebels will keep the word of their leaders

  • Strategic importance of Nepal corridor Financial Express, India Regionalism is fast threatening multilateralism. As Peter Sutherland observed, MFN is almost a dead letter—virtually all WTO members are engaged in preferential trade arrangements. India and China are fast realising that they need to recognise this trend and act accordingly. China is negotiating FTAs with 23 coun-tries/regional groupings, while India is doing so with seven countries/groupings...... both India and China are contemplating an Asian Economic Community..... almost certain that Asia will re-emerge as the dominant global economy in the next few decades, spearheaded by India and China.....a need to explore logistical connectivity between the Asian giants through air, sea, rail and road...... The India-China-Nepal corridor has to be seen as an integral part of this larger strategic picture....... Customs clearance takes time and is subject to the whims of officials. There are too many forms requiring approval from different agencies. Expediting clearance procedures is an urgent requirement....... Sharing equipment and infrastructure for truck inspection and sharing data and intelligence..... A single-window inspection, as in Singapore ....... Ladakh-Kashi, Tibet-Sikkim (Nathula-Yarlung), the Tawang corridor and Ledo-Myanmar....... the Nepal corridor is of great strategic importance to India, as it will allow exporters easy access to the three regional markets of western China— Tibet, Qinghai and Sichuan...... Sichuan, particularly, is a huge market for Indian goods and services. ..... The Nepal corridor is a step towards fulfilling India’s ambition to play a central role in Asian trade, investment, energy, security and geopolitics.

  • Diplomats in Nepal condemn Maoist harassment Radio Australia, Australia The Industrial Security Group, comprising of diplomats from France, Germany, India, Britain, the United States and the European Union, say unions linked to the rebels are hurting the economy by threatening frequent strikes.

  • Cellular phones ring again in Nepal Times of India, India

  • Trans-Himalayan railway from China to India via Nepal would be a ... PeaceJournalism.com, Nepal

  • China, India and the Future of South Asia PeaceJournalism.com

  • Nepal King’s controversial Europe/New York Odyssey United We Blog, Nepal ...... Gyanendra will leave Kathmandu on Sept 9. King will first go to Frankfurt, Germany (the transit point) where he will give directions to the Nepali diplomatic community. Ambassadors from Belgium, France, Germany, UK, Geneva, Russia and many more consul generals will be there to hear what the monarch has to say. There will be more than 18 diplomats in the meeting. King will stay there for two days: 10-11 Sept......... the king will ask the diplomats to push forward the plan of economic diplomacy........ pro-democratic people in the US are busy managing the protest programs in New York ...... Anand Bista of Nepalese Democratic Youth Council in USA...... “Lets make the NY rally grand success like our earlier DC rally held on may 16th 2005” ...... Creative Dissent Nepal ......