Relation with neighbors prominently figures out in our foreign policy priorities. How should we conduct our relationship with our two immediate neighbors?
We have to develop our country as a vibrant economic link between India and China. But we are failing to develop a relationship based on trust with both our neighbors. We have failed to make them confident and maintain an equidistance policy. Our leaders are exploiting the bilateral relationship to serve their personal and party interests. First, we have to define our national interests and we have to talk with other countries accordingly. For this, all political parties should come together. In other countries, political parties, irrespective of their differing political ideologies, come together on the issue of national interests and external relations, but this is not happening in our country. Parties should make a consistent view on foreign policy whether they are in power or outside the government. This lack of consistency has caused our state bodies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to become very weak. There have been a lot of changes in both the domestic and international landscape, so we have to think differently. Our traditional mindset needs to change. How do you see Nepal’s relationship beyond neighbors? First and foremost, we have to define our national interests and priorities before dealing with other countries. We have to identify the areas of collaboration with those countries to serve our national interests. Our relationship with Western and European countries are not on track. We have not seen long-term vision in our relationship with those countries. All major political parties should be on the same page when we engage with foreign powers. Take MCC, for example, where the political parties showed double standards. They instructed their cadres to hit the street against the US grant program, but the party leadership endorsed it. We failed to make a concrete position. Even after endorsing the MCC, the parties have not taken its ownership. You are a member of the CPN-UML's international bureau, how do your party view the existing situation? What position our party takes on the issue of international relations doesn’t matter because we are talking about a national issue, which needs to be consistent and according to the consensus among all major political parties. The national interest is a common issue of all political parties. So the parties should not see foreign policy from their prisms. They should instead see it from the national interest’s perspectives. How do you evaluate the performances of our embassies? Ambassadors can play a vital role to serve national interests. Their main duty should be to enhance the economy. They can play a role to bring investment and assistance. The question is whether we have oriented our Ambassadors in a proper way. There should be close communication and coordination between government ministers and ambassadors. The reports submitted by embassies are always snubbed and we lack the agency to implement the suggestions made by the ambassadors. If the government is not supportive, ambassadors alone cannot bring results.
