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Through the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, the US government, in partnership with the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust and the Department of Archeology, has helped restore and preserve cultural heritage sites in Nepal.

Addressing a program organized to celebrate the completion of the Octagonal Krishna Temple, or Krishna Mandir, a restoration project in Patan Durbar Square, US Ambassador to Nepal Randy Berry said his government is proud to support it.

 “The temple has been fully restored.  Now, not only is it beautiful, but its improved structural framework is more resilient to future earthquakes,” he said.  

He further said long-standing partner in Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation projects, the contribution made by artisans and laborers from Patan and around Kathmandu Valley, and the centuries-old cultural heritage of this Square.

You will notice portraits of many of the talented stone carvers, carpenters, metalsmiths, and other artisans who restored the Krishna Temple and other structures in Patan, he said.

It is their work and their dedication to traditional design and construction methods that residents of Patan and thousands of tourists enjoy every year, he added.

Since 1950, US policymakers have been pitching for country-specific policies while dealing with small South Asian countries. But when it comes to Nepal, they reckon US interests are best served by a policy of close sharing of information with India.

As far back as 1954, the US National Security Council had stated in its document: “India is apprehensive of the US information and technical assistance activity to Nepal.” 

The document further said, “It is very important that they [India] feel well informed of our activities in that country [Nepal]. Our policy should be independent, but we should keep the Indians apprised of our objectives and what we are doing.”

When Nepal requested the US for military assistance in 1960—as a part of King Mahendra’s strategy of diversifying away from India and China—the Americans responded that Nepal should meet its requirement from India. The US officials further said that they would consult officials in New Delhi about Nepal’s requests. 

It is clear that the US is highly concerned about Nepal owing to its strategic location. And its engagement with the country has remained more or less unchanged since the 1950s.  In the past, the core US objective was to prevent the communist penetration of Nepal, and now, too, it wants to contain China’s growing economic and military influence in the Himalayan country. 

No wonder speculations about the US viewing Nepal through ‘Indian eyes’ continue to be rife.

This impression was further buttressed when New Delhi and Washington worked closely with each on Nepal’s peace process that started in 2006. 

In recent decades, there has been a sea change in international politics, particularly with the incessant rise of China. 

Containing China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region through alliances and allies is a key foreign policy priority of the Joe Biden administration. The US Indo-Pacific Strategy, brought with the same purpose, has economic, political, and military components. 

Though Nepal’s participation in regional and global issues is minimal, the US has recognized the country’s central role in the maintenance of a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific. That is why engagement between Kathmandu and Washington is growing, particularly after the formation of the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led government in July 2021. 

The past few months witnessed the exchange of a series of high-level visits between the two countries, and more visits are on the cards. 

Nepal Army chief General Prabhu Ram Sharma is due to travel to the US on June 27. Meanwhile, preparations are also underway for Prime Minister Deuba’s US trip. 

With the passage of the $630m MCC compact, a US grant program, by Nepal’s parliament in February, America’s financial assistance to Nepal has increased substantially as well. 

Meanwhile, India, which has for long been apprehensive of the presence of outside powers in its backyard, also seems to be getting comfortable with the growing US engagement in the region. This is in part due to increasing conflict between India and China, mainly after the military clash in Galwan Valley in 2020. 

In recent years, there has been a strategic convergence on many issues between New Delhi and Washington. Despite their differing positions on Russia, the two countries are working together on regional affairs. 

A former Indian ambassador to Nepal, who spoke to ApEx on condition of anonymity, says there is a tentative understanding between India and the US about the latter’s engagements in South Asian countries. 

The growing US-Nepal ties have garnered mixed reactions among the policymakers and think tanks in New Delhi. 

Amid the heightened US-China rivalry, India, too, has stepped up its engagement with Kathmandu, even as it remains silent over the growing bonhomie between Kathmandu and Washington. As Nepal’s engagement with China has slowed, its interactions with the US and India are continuously increasing.

Some analysts in New Delhi argue that, as India alone cannot curtail China’s influence in the Himalayan country, the country should not object to Washington’s greater sway in Kathmandu. 

“New Delhi for now appears to be happy with its low-key approach as it witnesses the growing US-China contestation in Kathmandu from the sidelines,” says the former ambassador.

Ashok K. Mehta, a former major general of the Indian Army and an old Nepal watcher, agrees. 

India takes the recent engagement between Kathmandu and Washington positively, he tells ApEx. 

“The US may be promoting its own interests in this region, but those are not very different to India’s own interests,” he says. “In this region, India wants to keep China at a safe distance, especially in Nepal.” 

In a telegram to the US State Department in 1973, the US embassy in New Delhi stated that “the official Indian policy is consonant with our interest in having a South Asia of stable, independent states where no outside power has an exclusive position.” 

It went on to say: “All the smaller neighbors suspect India really wants hegemony, and indeed it may. They react by trying to maintain close relations with world powers.”  

For a long time, Mehta says, Deuba has been known as “a good friend of the West”. This has gone down well in New Delhi, at a time India is tilting towards the US.  

“In the past, India used to say China is not a threat to the region. This has now totally changed, mainly after the clash in Ladakh,” he adds.

Following the endorsement of the MCC compact by Nepal’s parliament, the US has been an active player in the region under the Indo-Pacific Strategy. 

“Both India and the US see China as the main threat in the Indo-Pacific region,” Mehta says.

Amit Ranjan, a research fellow at the National University of Singapore, says as New Delhi and Washington are on good terms, India may not show much concern over Nepal-US engagements for now. 

In the long run though, he says Kathmandu’s closeness to the US may affect Indian interests in Nepal. 

“For now, India sees that the US isn’t working against Indian interests in South Asia. It is of the view that the US is here to check Beijing,” he says.  

Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal held meetings with Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Stefano Sannino; Managing Director for Asia and Pacific at the EEAS Gunnar Wiegand. He also meets other senior officials at the Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) and the Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) of the European Commission at the European Union headquarters in Brussels today.

During the meeting with the Secretary-General of the EEAS, the Foreign Secretary discussed overall bilateral relations and cooperation between Nepal and the EU, reads the press statement. The Foreign Secretary participated in a lunch meeting hosted by the Managing Director for Asia and Pacific at the EEAS in the afternoon.  During the occasion, they discussed all major areas of Nepal-EU relations and also reviewed the areas of cooperation since the 13^th Joint Commission meeting held in Kathmandu in November last year.

The discussion focused on areas such as the socio-economic impact of COVID-19, development cooperation, economic relations and EU market access to Nepali products in the context of the planned graduation of Nepal from the LDC status, cooperation in climate change and environmental issues, air safety and access of Nepal’s airlines to the EU sky, among others, according to a press statement.  

They expressed satisfaction over the ongoing cooperation between Nepal and the EU and agreed to continue working towards further consolidating the cooperative relations.

The Foreign Secretary also held separate meetings with DG INTPA and DG CLIMA at the European Commission. During the meeting with Mr. Jean-Louis Ville, Acting Director for Middle East, Asia and Pacific at DG INTPA, they discussed various aspects of development cooperation between Nepal and the EU.

 Similarly, the meeting with Dimitrios Zevgolis, Head of Unit for Multilateral Affairs at DG CLIMA, focused on the issue of climate change and environment protection, and the cooperation in the areas of adaptation, and mitigation, climate finance and technology transfer.

The 26th and 27th Annual General Meeting of the Nepal-India Chamber of Commerce & Industry (NICCI) unanimously elected one president and nine executive members for the next two years' tenure.

 The AGM held in Kathmandu on 26th May 2022.  Shreejana Rana representing Hotel Annapurna unanimously elected in the post of the President and Nine Executive Members were also unanimously elected in the post executive committees are Achyut Kharel,  Arun KC, Hem Raj Dhakal,  Harkirat Singh Bedi, Kunal Kayal,  Mahesh Bahadur Basnet, Ramesh Sharma,  Saibal Ghosh, and Sunil KC.

 President of NICCI Shreejana Rana welcomed all the distinguished guests and informed the endeavors that NICCI has been putting in the various forums for the promotion of FDI from India and promotion of Nepal-India Trade, Transit, Tourism, and bilateral cooperation for the overall economic development of the country.

Chief Guest Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Narayan Khadka, inaugurated the AGM by lighting the Panus and expressed his happiness on the effort that has been made by NICCI from its establishment to date Minister Khadka wishes NICCI a great success in the days ahead also.

Minister Khadka also highlighted the Nepal-India bilateral relations and the cooperation extended by the Indian Government to Nepal as important for the economic development of the country. The Visit of the Prime Ministers of both the countries in both countries within the month of the period has been a benchmark as it helped strengthen the bilateral relationship into new height also.

Special Guest Suresh Pravu, Member of Parliament and Former Minister of Railway, Power, Industry, and Commerce, Government of India has also highlighted the importance of bilateral relations and the short term solution to the currently emerged economic crisis in the world. He further highlighted the remittance which is now the major source of foreign currency as it needs to be increased by skilling those out going human resources so that the more foreign currency could be brought in form of remittance which help manage the current economic crisis in short term.

Former Ambassador of India to Nepal Ranjit Rae also expressed his happiness on the endeavors made by NICCI during his tenure as an ambassador in Nepal and wish to see continuing those efforts in the coming day as well. Mr. Rae highlighted the area where Nepal need to focus, like, Hydropower, Tourism, Agriculture, Education, Healthcare, IT sector and few more others as they can change the scenario of economic development.  Prasanna Srivastava, Consular of Embassy of India, Shekhar Golchha, President of FNCCI, Vishnu Agrawal, President of CNI, and Rajendra Malla, President of Nepal Chamber of Commerce have also expressed their views and wished NICCI for future collaboration and success.