KP Oli is out on the street protesting as he cannot be in the seat of power in Singhadurbar. A big reason for the desperation of the leader of the opposition is his dismal standing with the south. Starting with Matrika Prasad Koirala, the first post-Rana prime minister, Nepali heads of government have all internalised...
Almost six months after Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s visit to India, the status of progress and follow-up to the agreements reached during the four-day official trip are dismal, said lawmakers and foreign policy experts. During a roundtable discussion on Friday organised by the Centre for Social Inclusion and Federalism (CESIF), Raj Kishor Yadav, the...
Since the second half of the twentieth century, Nepal’s foreign policy has predominantly revolved around India and China, against the backdrop of India’s independence in 1947 and China’s takeover of Tibet in 1950. The policy focused on safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity in addition to achieving economic wellbeing and prosperity, and has not seen much...
Amid escalating tensions and changing political environment in Asia, Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, popularly known as Prachanda, is scheduled to visit China on September 23. This will be his second foreign trip after assuming charge as the country’s prime minister in December 2022. Unlike 2008, when Prachanda chose Beijing as his first foreign...
Summary Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who ascended to power on 25 December 2022, faces an arduous task of maintaining cordial ties with the big powers, particularly India, the United States and China. After returning to power, Dahal’s first foreign visit to New Delhi from 31 May to 3 June 2023 indicated Kathmandu’s preference....
ntroductionIn June 2022, India introduced the Agnipath scheme to reform the recruitment and retirement mechanisms of its armed forces. Under the policy, youth between the ages of 17-and-a-half and 21 years will be recruited to the armed forces for four years of service. The scheme aims to improve the Indian military’s battle preparedness through merit-based...
An eight-member team had prepared a joint report five years ago suggesting the blueprint for Nepal-India relations in the changed regional and global contexts. The document has been gathering dust while the panel is disbanded, not least by the death of one eminent person and by other official assignments of some others on either side....
The five-party ruling coalition has formed a 10-member task force to prepare a Common Minimum Program (CMP) of the government. Along with domestic issues, the task force will also outline the foreign policy priorities of the new government. The latest coalition has four communist parties—CPN-UML, CPN (Maoist Center), CPN (Unified Socialist), and Janata Samajbadi Party—and...
There is no shortage of discussion in Kathmandu on the changing geopolitical landscape and the challenges Nepal currently faces in its external relations. Although serious research and publications are lacking, Kathmandu-based think tanks somehow manage to secure financial resources to organize programs at upscale hotels. Lately, there has been a boom in the number of...
China has said it stands ready to work with Nepal to take the visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha as an opportunity to further deliver on the important common understandings between leaders of the two countries and deepen political mutual trust. The Chinese foreign ministry also said the northern neighbour...