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The government has decided to celebrate the National Democracy Day, 2080 BS in a grand manner.

A meeting of the National Democracy Day Main Program Committee chaired by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal at Singha Durbar this morning, decided to organize various programs on February 18, 19 and 20 in this context.

The meeting has decided to request the media to design National Democracy Day-centered public awareness raising programs as special talk shows, panel discussions and radio dramas and broadcast them on February 18. Similarly, the national print media houses have been requested to publish special publications/ souvenirs and compilation of various articles highlighting the multi-faceted dimensions of democracy on the occasion.

The national flags of the stipulated size would be flown on the roofs, verandah, and the premises of all the government bodies, institutions and organizations on the eve of the Democracy Day. Similarly, lights will be lit at the mandalas, the squares and at houses in the evening.

As per the government's decision, blood donation camps would be organized in all the districts with the support of governmental and non-governmental organizations while educational and sports materials would be distributed to the differently-abled students at their schools at the district-level.

On February 19, the National Democracy Day, the Nepal Army will play trumpet at sunrise, fire celebratory cannon salvoes and rifles at the Army Pavilion, Tundikhel. It will display a huge banner marked with 'National Democracy Day, 2024' from a helicopter around the Ring Road area. Similarly, petals will be showered from a helicopter and flag display held at the Army Pavilion, Tundikhel.

The official National Democracy Day, 2024 main programme will be organized at the Army Pavilion, Tundikhel, where the elected people's representatives, civil servants, security personnel, the office-bearers of public bodies and community organizations, academic and educational institutions and dignitaries from the civil society and the general public would be invited.

Similarly, the government has decided to organize various programs at the provincial and district level throughout the country in celebration of the National Democracy Day.

Nepal and Australia have signed an agreement on trade and investment. The Nepal-Australia Trade and Investment Framework (TIFA) was signed during Foreign Minister NP Saud's ongoing visit to Australia, according to the Minister's Secretariat.

Nepal's ambassador to Australia, Kailash Raj Pokharel, and Australia's Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, Tim Watts, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides in the presence of Minister Saud and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Following the signing-in ceremony, both ministers said the moment is significant in terms of taking the friendly relations between the two nations to a new height.

"Australia and Nepal are close friends and our relationship is underpinned by deep people to people links- Nepali Australians are our fastest growing migrant community," Watts tweeted after the signing of the agreement.  He said that the signing of the TIFA is just another demonstration of strong ties between the two countries.

On the occasion, he reminisced about his last year's visit to Nepal, adding that he had held talks with the representatives of the government of Nepal and leaderships from various sectors about opportunities and measures to further deepening mutual relations between Nepal and Australia.

He recalled the meeting with Minister Saud regarding further deepening the economic ties between the two countries and expressed his happiness for the opportunity to sign in the economic and investment framework.

Following the discussion, the high-ranking officials of the both countries had repeatedly discussed formal agreement so as to further strengthen the economic relations between the two countries.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in Feb 2022, Nepal joined the chorus of widespread international condemnation against Putin’s Russia. 

Nepal went so far as to vote in the emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly against  Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine and demanded that Russia immediately withdraw its forces and abide by international law. 

At the time, many foreign policy watchers said Nepal’s voting in the UN went against the country’s long-standing non-alignment policy. In the subsequent voting process concerning the Russia-Ukraine war, Nepal decided to maintain a neutral position.  The reverberations of the war was felt in Nepal’s economy too, although not as much in many parts of the world. Interestingly, soon after the war, Moscow came up with a new proposal to advance bilateral cooperation with Kathmandu.

Amidst the war with Ukraine, Russia invited Nepali politicians for an official visit. Chairman of National Assembly Ganesh Prasad Timalsina paid an official visit to Moscow last year.  The Russian Embassy in Kathmandu also submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressing willingness to contribute to Nepal’s connectivity and other areas.

At one point, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal even declared that he was interested in visiting Moscow or hosting Putin in Kathmandu. With its reputation taking a major slide, Russia wanted to create a favorable public opinion, and it had succeeded with the Dahal government. 

But two years after the war broke out, Nepal faces an unpleasant moment with Russia. Lured by good earning prospects, Nepali youths are flying to Russia through unscrupulous agents to join the Russian Armed Forces. The horrors of war have visited Nepal in the form of Nepali youths either dying or missing in the war.    

The official government figure says that 13 youths serving in the Russian army have been killed so far. But it cannot be trusted, since Russia does not give out the casualty numbers of its own soldiers, let alone the foreign soldiers who have joined its army. 

Russia has been recruiting foreign nationals including from Nepal to fight its war with Ukraine. Nepal’s request to Russia to stop the recruitment of Nepali youths has so far gone unheard. The Nepal government has also asked Russia to repatriate the Nepali youths who have joined the Russian Armed Forces and provide compensation to the families of those who have been killed in the war. 

Though Kathmandu and Russia are in constant communication, Russia is yet to respond to Nepal's request. It is not certain how many Nepali youths are currently serving in the Russian army. The government estimates the number around 200 but those who have escaped from Russia say that the number could be in the thousands.

Till now, 13 Nepalis have been confirmed killed, 50 have returned from Russia and approximately 150 families have submitted an application at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting for safe return of their family members.

Security agencies in Nepal have nabbed a group involved in sending Nepali youths to Russia. Similarly, the authorities have tightened the provision of visit visa after it was found that most of the youths were able to reach Moscow using visit visas. Similarly, the provision of no-objection letters has been extended to 10 countries. Work permits to Russia and Ukraine have also been barred.

But many Nepalis continue to reach Russia to join the army. It is said most of the new Nepali recruits joining the war are migrant workers based in the Middle East and other labor destinations.  

According to government officials, Russia has agreed to provide compensation to the family members of those who have been killed in the Russian army, but the two sides are yet to agree on the modality of how the compensation will be distributed. Nepal has requested Russia to send the cash incentives to the families in Nepal, but Russia is saying that family members should travel to Moscow to claim the compensation. 

Nepal has also requested Russia to send the bodies of Nepali citizens who have been identified and kept in the hospitals, but the issue of who will pay the money to repatriate the dead remains uncertain.

It is said the government is also in talks with Ukraine to free five Nepali prisoners of war. But officials say Ukraine has set some conditions to free those hostages. Some of the conditions include legal punishment for freed hostages once they have returned to Nepal and a guarantee that no Nepali shall join the Russian army again.

As more families are coming out claiming that their loved ones are missing in the Russia-Ukraine war, the Nepal government is facing increasing pressure to hold talks with Russia as well as Ukraine to secure the safer return of its citizens.

At the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit recently, Foreign Minister NP Saud met Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Vershinin and asked to stop the recruitment of Nepali nationals and send back those who have already been recruited. The latter assured to communicate Nepal’s concern to the Kremlin, but nothing came of it. Saud has recently expressed his willingness to travel to Russia to talk on the same issue, but Russia has not agreed so far.  

This week families of those who are in the Russian army organized a press conference to air their concerns. Suman Rai, who escaped the Russian army and returned to Nepal said more than 500 Nepali nationals have already died in the war and thousands are still serving in the Russian army. He added that most of the Nepali youths, who do not understand Russian language, have been deployed in the frontline.

According to some media reports, Russia has been providing around Rs 300,000 to Nepali youths. To attract foreign nationals to join the Russian army, the Kremlin has also pledged to provide them with Russian citizenship.  

Nepali youths who reach Russia are said to be paying up to Rs 1m to agents and brokers. The promise of lucrative salary has driven many Nepalis to risk their lives and join the Russia-Ukraine war. Even those people who were holding permanent jobs in Nepal’s security agencies are joining the Russian army. 

The Nepali Army has reportedly approved the participation of a blacklisted Indian firm in the bidding process for one of the packages of the Kathmandu-Tarai/Madhes Expressway, following a thorough review of its technical proposal.

KMC Construction Ltd, an Indian firm, is among the three companies shortlisted for the financial proposal stage after passing the technical proposal evaluation. Consequently, the army will proceed to award the contract based on the financial proposals submitted by these three companies. The other two companies that have qualified for the financial proposal stage are Poly Changda Engineering Co Ltd of China and RVNL-ABL Joint Venture, based on the assessment of their technical proposals.

Currently, the Kathmandu-Tarai/Madhes Fast Track Road Project is in the process of evaluating financial proposals for Package 8-B of the expressway, with an estimated project cost of approximately Rs 19bn. Despite the Chinese firm bidding over Rs 28bn for the package, RVNL-ABL Joint Venture bidding Rs 17bn, and KMC Construction Ltd bidding Rs 14bn, the project must be awarded to the lowest bidder in accordance with the Public Procurement Act and Regulations. Therefore, the blacklisted Indian firm is expected to secure the project.

It’s worth noting that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India has initiated the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process for KMC Construction. Reportedly, KMC Construction secured a bid guarantee through Citizens Bank International Ltd of Nepal, as Indian banks declined to provide a bank guarantee due to the firm being blacklisted by Exim Bank.

The Nepali Army’s decision on the fast-track project has faced criticism. Responding to a 2019 query from the Department of Roads about the banking status of the Indian firm, the Indian Embassy recommended canceling the tender awarded to a joint venture between KMC and Tundi Construction of Kathmandu and opting for rebidding. Additionally, India’s National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd placed KMC Construction on the ‘negative list’ in 2021, and the Indian Enforcement Directorate is reportedly investigating the company.

Another Indian bidder, RVNL-ABL JV, brought attention to the project chief regarding the qualification of KMC Construction, labeling it as “highly irregular and a miscarriage of transparency and justice in an international bidding procedure.”