What did Nepal's ambassador in China say about India that there was a dispute?

Posted on 30th Sep 2020 by rohit kumar

Controversy has arisen in Nepal due to an interview of Nepal's ambassador to China.

 

Nepali Ambassador Mahendra Bahadur Pandey had talked about the Indo-Nepal border dispute in his interview and criticized the Indian media.

 

Many Nepalese foreign affairs experts say the interview published on the website of the newspaper Global Times, considered close to the Chinese government, is non-diplomatic and could lead to misunderstandings between Nepal and its two neighbors India and China.

 

Although Nepal's foreign ministry has not yet responded to the interview, a former Nepal ambassador to China, considered close to the ruling party, told the BBC Nepalese Service that Ambassador Mahendra Bahadur Pandey could have avoided the dispute, If he had given his answer differently.

 

Ambassador Pandey gave this interview right after the controversy surrounding the buildings built by the Chinese side around the mountain passes in the Humla district of Nepal set by the border of China.

 

However, both China and Nepal later clarified that the buildings built near the border are within the border of China.

 

But many such reports have been continuously published in the media of Nepal and India that China is constructing buildings inside Nepal and the Nepali people protested in front of the Chinese Ambassador in the capital Kathmandu and demanded that China has given Nepal Leave the illegal possession of the land.

 

The main question in that interview was that there are reports in foreign media that Nepal is stuck between India and China and Nepal is having trouble reconciling the relationship with both.

 

Reaction in Nepal

 

Bhaskar Koirala, director of Nepal Institute of International and Strategic Studies, says that the Nepali ambassador made an irresponsible attempt to introduce the Indian media to the state of India in the interview.

 

He said, "The question was focused on the Indian media, but the Ambassador compared it to the country of India, which is a very irresponsible thing. Anyone who reads the interview of the Nepalese Ambassador will feel that the Indian media, which is fake And the one-way news is running, the Indian government is promoting it. "

 

Koirala says that it is not diplomatic in any way for the Nepali ambassador to sit in China and talk on the Indo-Nepal border dispute.

 

He goes on to say, "This is neither good for Nepal nor China. It is also not true for our relations with India. Amid the already ongoing border dispute between India and China, the Nepali Ambassador has inexplicably Nepal has been dragged into it. Nepal should not take any side that gives any one of its neighbors a chance to get angry. Being settled in a strategically important region, we should try to make our country an island of peace. . "

 

Akhilesh Upadhyay, former editor-in-chief of the Kathmandu Post newspaper, says that it seems that this interview was given to please China, which was completely against the established diplomatic values ​​and behavior.

 

He says, "Relations between India and China are very important for Nepal. China started paying special attention to Nepal from the year 2008 (the year the monarchy ended in Nepal and it became a republic). Since then, the strategic rivalry between India and China has continued in Nepal. Under these circumstances, the Nepali Ambassador should have followed the principle of Non-Aligned Foreign Policy. The statement of the Nepali Ambassador was as if a political activist was talking. "

 

Akhilesh Upadhyay says that people coming from diplomatic careers never make such a statement, which has become a very minor thing in recent years, irrespective of the party of the government.

 

According to him, the government of Nepal should immediately clear up the matter and should tell the government that Nepal sees its relations with India and China independently and separately.

 

If the government does not do this, then the suspicion will be strengthened that the current Nepali government is leaning towards China.

 

Another former Nepali ambassador to China, Tanaka Karki, has a different opinion.

 

Karki is considered close to the ruling Nepali Communist Party.

 

Speaking to the BBC, Karki said, "Ambassador Pandey has a different way of saying his words. I don't think he has said anything worth questioning as the media is doing. However, I also seem to have been able to answer some questions differently. "

 

Karki said that in an interview with Global Times, what Ambassador Pandey said about India, it was only about the border dispute with India and Nepal in Kalapani.

 

Karki further adds, "I think some media in India supports the government and some media are also independent. I think Ambassador Pandey was talking only about India's dock media in his interview."

 

Karki said that Nepal is itself capable of resolving its border dispute with India and there is no need to drag Nepal in the fight between big and powerful countries.

 

What did the Nepali ambassador finally say?

 

During the interview, the Nepali ambassador was asked that foreign media, especially the Indian media, is saying that China's growing relationship with Nepal has increased security concerns.

 

To this, the Nepalese Ambassador said, "It is not based on facts and it is a partisan attitude. It reflects the mindset of fear. Nepal is an independent and sovereign country from the time when India was a colony. We somehow do not incline ideological groups or any powerful country. "

 

He added, "The Indian media may be biased or it may be that someone has misinformed them. That is why they broadcast fake news and propaganda. But this is not true. Cooperation between China and Nepal is very natural. And friendly. "

 

He had also said that both China and India are neighbors of Nepal and neighbors should not be afraid of each other, rather they should join hands and cooperate and move forward.

 

When the Ambassador was asked to cite some Western media that Nepal is stuck in the Indo-China border dispute, the Ambassador spoke about the border dispute between India and Nepal.

 

He said that there are no border disputes between Nepal and China, as they were settled during the time of Mao Tse and Chou En-Lai.

 

The ambassador further said that India has taken possession of some of Nepal's land and has stayed on that land of Nepal after losing the 1962 war to China, but later India said that it is India's land.

 

According to him, Nepal requested India several times to discuss the matter, but India was not willing to talk, but now India has expressed its wish that it wants to sit down and talk.

 

Ambassador Pandey is also the former Foreign Minister of Nepal. He said that the India-China border dispute or the Indo-Nepal border dispute should be resolved through dialogue and it should not be propagated.

 

He said, "In the modern world, not every issue can be solved by bullets. But we can solve it by sitting together. We should use our knowledge, skills, and intelligence and our vision should be global."

 

The Nepali ambassador said that Nepal has no problem with Tibet. He also spoke of Tibetan refugees who have fled Tibet and are living in India.

 

He said, "Sometimes some anti-social elements enter Nepal due to the open border of Nepal and India. They try their best to go against our relations. We do not allow this and they are in control We keep. Our earth cannot be used against any of our friendly countries. "

 

Nepal's foreign ministry has not yet responded to Ambassador Pandey's interview.

 

Talking to the Kathmandu Post, Ambassador Pandey said that he is going to talk clearly and he does not want to comment on whether his interview was diplomatic or not. The BBC also tried to contact Ambassador Mahendra Bahadur Pandey several times but could not talk to him.