Submit your Article

In a cricketing spectacle of grand proportions, India, the unbeaten hosts, are set to carry the hopes of billions when they face off against Australia in the highly anticipated World Cup final at the majestic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

The 130,000-capacity stadium, named after the Indian Prime Minister, is not only the battleground for this high-stakes encounter but also the canvas for pre-match extravaganzas, the Time of India reported.

A pre-match fly-past by the Indian Air Force and meticulously choreographed displays featuring dancers and light shows during innings breaks are all part of the pageantry, underscoring India's status as the economic powerhouse of the cricketing world.

India's cricketing dominance in the tournament has been nothing short of spectacular winning all 10 games leading up to the final.

Virat Kohli, the tournament’s leading batsman, has been in sublime form, setting a new record of 50 ODI hundreds in the semi-final victory over New Zealand. Mahammed Shami, leading the tournament bowling charts with 23 wickets at an impressive average of 9.13, has been a potent force for the hosts, according to The TImes of India.

Captain Rohit Sharma, acknowledging the immense pressure, stated, “Playing for India is as good as playing any World Cup game because there is so much pressure. There is so much expectation.” He added, “ Not many have played the finals, but like I said, playing for India is as good as playing any World Cup game.”

Australia, bidding for a record-extending sixth World Cup title, enter the final with a team boasting survivors from their triumphant 2015 World Cup campaign. Captain Pat Cummins emphasized the team’s experience, saying, “We know that feeling and won’t be afraid to go out there and be  brave and take the game on.”

Dr Nihar R Nayak is a Research Fellow with Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), New Delhi. His areas of expertise include political transitions in the eastern Himalayan region, non-traditional security, soft power diplomacy, left-wing extremism, and cooperative security in South Asia. Dr Nayak closely follows Nepal-India relations. Kamal Dev Bhattarai recently talked to Dr Nayak to gain insights into the current state of bilateral relations. Excerpts:

How do you assess the current state of Nepal-India relations?

Comparing it to the period of 2015-2016, there has been significant improvement in bilateral relations. Misunderstandings have substantially decreased, and bilateral mechanisms are functioning on schedule. Regular high-level political visits indicate that the bilateral relationship is in good shape. There has been good progress in energy cooperation with India addressing some concerns. While the overall relationship is in good shape, it remains complex, with certain pending issues yet to be addressed.

What are the pending issues that you are referring to?

The Nepali side has long been urging the update of the 1950 Peace and Friendship Treaty which is a major issue. Another issue is the submission of the EPG report, and border demarcation and map issues are also unresolved. The Boundary Working Group is yet to submit its report despite holding some meetings. The map row is yet to be resolved. A mechanism led by foreign secretaries was set up in 2014 to resolve border issues. But no dialogue has been taken so far under this format. There also are other issues such as air routes and trade and transit matters.

How do you view Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s relationship with New Delhi?

The current coalition aligns with India’s interests in the Himalayan region. India's experience with the previous government was not very comfortable as there were many misunderstandings with the CPN-UML-led government in Kathmandu. A non-controversial and friendly government in Kathmandu, like the current Maoist and NC coalition, somehow suits India's interests at this moment.

As a scholar, how do you see Dahal’s relationship with Beijing?

Regardless of who is the prime minister, Nepal must maintain a balanced relationship with Beijing and New Delhi. The foreign policy from King Mahendra's era in the 1960s is still continuing in Nepal. I do not see any deviation in that policy. India will engage with whoever comes to Baluwatar. Undertaking a bilateral visit to neighboring countries is a very regular issue. While analyzing the recent visit, I do not think it was a successful visit in terms of substance. Diplomatically, there was no major success though he spent seven days in China.  Although the two sides had 13 agreements, there were no major agreements during the visits. There were no promises on BRI, no agreement on power trade, and no major understanding on infrastructure development. This suggests that Dahal is not very close to Beijing.

American assistance and engagement with Nepal has increased lately. How do you see it?

American policy in the Himalayan region seems somewhat at odds with building a strong partnership between India and the US. For example, the US has increased its annual aid to civil society in Nepal. Interestingly, the same civil society is critical of India's engagement with Kathmandu. This means, indirectly, the US funds are being utilized against India. I believe that American interests to some extent do not synchronize what India is trying to do in the region. I see there is a communication gap between the US and New Delhi in this matter.  

As part of the commemorating 20 years of successful implementation of the High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs) in Nepal, through grant assistance of Government of India, the Embassy of India formally handed over the Mangaladevi Birthing (Maternity) Center at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu to the hospital representatives.

Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat, Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Anita Devi, and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Naveen Srivastava jointly handed over the center to the hospital representatives amidst a function.

Political representatives, officials of Nepal Government, social workers and local community leaders were also present at the event. 

Furthermore, agreements for 3 more HICDP projects being undertaken in Nepal under Indian grant assistance at total estimated cost of Rs 130 million in the Baitadi and Mustang districts were also signed on the occasion, reads a statement issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.

Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital is one of the most prestigious medical institutions in Nepal.

Mangaladevi Birthing Center at TUTH has been built with Government of India’s financial assistance of Rs 44.04 million as an HICDP under Nepal-India Development Cooperation framework.

In addition, 2 sets of 40 KVA Diesel Generators, 5 Buses and 2 Ambulances have been provided to different departments, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, for this hospital in which 1 Ambulance is fully equipped with Advanced Life Support.

TUTH representatives informed that this birthing center is being managed by nurses and could function as the model birthing center for implementation in other regions across Nepal, which could result in reduced maternal mortality rates, according to the statement.

HICDPs, earlier known as Small Development Projects, were launched on  November 7, 2003 through bilateral agreement between Government of Nepal and Government of India regarding India’s Grant Assistance for Implementation of Small Development Projects through Nepali entities working at local level.

 There projects are an innovative and important segment of the Development Partnership with Nepal and are being implemented in the priority sectors of the Government of Nepal for creating infrastructure to enhance the quality of life at the grassroots level for the people of Nepal.

Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Srivastava highlighted that this journey of implementation of HICDP projects over the past 20 years has been very successful.

He expressed satisfaction that since 2003, nearly 550 projects have been taken up under this framework in various sectors including Education, Health, Road & Bridges, River Training, Drinking Water, Electrification, Irrigation, Culture, Social Welfare etc, which have impacted people’s lives directly.

Of these, 480 projects have been completed and remaining are ongoing.

This success translates into over 27 projects every year or simply more than 1 new project being implemented every fortnight in Nepal under Nepal-India Development Cooperation over the last 20 years.

The Ambassador thanked the Government of Nepal for its support in this regard, and committed to further enhance and strengthen the implementation of HICDPs in future, the statement further reads.

These HICDPs have been diverse in sector and geographical spread. It covers all the provinces of Nepal. 84 Projects have been undertaken in Koshi Province, 81 projects in Madhesh Province, 105 projects have been undertaken in Bagmati Province, 61 Projects in Gandaki Province, 60 projects have been undertaken in Lumbini Province, 14 in Karnali Province and 41 in Sudurpaschim Province. These are apart from 107 projects that spread in more than one province.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Mahat thanked India for its continuous support in the creation of development infrastructure in Nepal.

He highlighted that HICDP projects are the cornerstone of the development partnership between India and Nepal.

He assured that Government of Nepal’s full support in implementation of such projects which impact the livelihood of common Nepali people.

Similarly, Minister Anita Devi highlighted that the key aspects of such projects is their quick gestation period and role that they play in economic development at the local level. She thanked the Government of India for its support. She highlighted that HICDPs, despite being small in size, create a big impact in lives of the common Nepali people and therefore have been appropriately described as Highly Impactful in bringing changes in community.

Further, Government of India has also been gifting ambulances and school buses every year to various institutions working in the health and education sectors in Nepal on the occasion of Independence Day and Republic Day of India.

So far, 974 ambulances and 234 school buses have been gifted to beneficiaries in different parts of Nepal which translate into one ambulance being gifted every week and 1 school bus every month. These services are placed to be part of the first line of treatment and contribute significantly to the health care and education sector. This initiative is connecting with grass-root people even in the remotest parts of Nepal.

Eighteen Nepali nationals, who were rescued from war-torn Israel, have arrived in India.

The 18 Nepalis arrived in the southern neighbor through the ‘Operation Ajay’ campaign of the Indian government.

Nepali Ambassador India Dr Shankar Prasad Sharma welcomes the rescued Nepalis at the Delhi Airport. He said that transportation has been arranged for them to go to Nepal.

Taking to social media, he said, “families are excited as they return home during Dashain.”

Earlier, the Nepal government had evacuated 253 Nepali students from Israel after the armed attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on the war-hit West Asian country. They were airlifted by a Nepal Airlines plane.

Ten Nepali students were killed and four others sustained injuries in the attacks by Hamas. One is still unaccounted for.

The Foreign Ministry said that they are searching for missing Bipin Joshi.

The three injured are in the protection of the Tel Aviv-based Nepali Embassy.

The Foreign Ministry said that preparations are being made to repatriate the bodies of Nepali students killed in Israel.

Nepal have faced a 23-run defeat at the hands of India in the quarter finals match of the T20 Cricket Tournament held under the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China today.

Nepal, who were chasing a massive 203 run target set by India, scored 179 runs losing all the wickets. However, Nepal's performance was worth appreciating.

Dipendra Singh Airee scored highest 32 runs for Nepal.

Similarly, Kushal Bhurtel made 28 runs, Aasif Shekh 10, Kushal Malla 29, captain Rohit Poudel three and Sandip Jora 29 runs.

Likewise, Sompal Kami contributed seven, Gulshan Jha six, Karan KC 18 (not out) and Sandip Lamichhane five runs.

Ravi Bishnoi and Abhesh Khan took three wickets each for India. Likewise, Arshadeep Singh took two wickets and Sai Kishor one wicket.

Electing to bat first after winning the toss, India scored 202 runs.

Yashashwi Jaiswal scored a century. He made 100 runs off 49 balls, putting Nepal under pressure. Rituraj Gayakwad collected 25 runs, Shivan Dubey 25 and Rinku Singh an aggressive 37 runs.

Nepali bowlers Dipendra Singh Airee took two wickets and Sandip Lamichhane and Sompal Kami one each.

With this defeat, Nepal have been exited from this tournament while India have entered into semifinals.

Canada’s prime minister has said Canadian security agencies are investigating “credible allegations of a potential link” between Indian government agents and the killing of a prominent Sikh-Canadian activist earlier this year, Aljazeera reported.

Speaking in Parliament on Monday afternoon, Justin Trudeau said he personally conveyed “deep concerns” to his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, at the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi earlier this month.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar was fatally shot on June 18 outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, a city in Canada’s westernmost province of British Columbia, spurring widespread questions and condemnation.

“Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty,” Trudeau said on Monday.

“In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.”

India’s foreign ministry rejected the allegations, which it described as “absurd”, saying they had also been rejected by Modi when mentioned by Trudeau, according to Aljazeera.

“Allegations of Government of India’s involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated,” the ministry said in a statement. “We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law.”

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said later on Monday that the government had expelled an Indian diplomat – the head of India’s external intelligence agency, known as RAW, in Canada – over the allegations.

She did not provide additional details, such as the official’s name or when the expulsion took place.

“We see this possible breach of sovereignty as completely unacceptable, and so that is also why we’re coming [out] with this information today,” Joly told reporters during a brief news conference.

The Indian foreign ministry statement also rejected Joly’s comments.

The Globe and Mail newspaper first reported that Canadian national security authorities had “what they consider credible intelligence that India was behind” the killing of Nijjar, Aljazeera reported.

Sources that spoke to the Canadian news outlet did not say how they made that determination.

“The Canadian government has privately ruled out severing diplomatic relations with New Delhi but is considering measures to respond to what it considers a serious violation of Canadian sovereignty,” the newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources.

Data indicate that India’s annual demand for gold stands at 1,400 tons, whereas imports amount to 900 tons. It is necessary to understand that 400-500 tons of gold is being sourced from Nepal.

Although the Department of Revenue Investigation asserted initially that it has the capability to handle an independent probe into the 100-kg gold smuggling case, the government later decided to involve police. This move has raised legitimate concerns.

A high-level committee can bring all suspects under investigation, whereas CIB may not be able to probe top government officials. So, it will be prudent to consider the CPN-UML’s demand for a high-level panel. Such a panel is necessary if we are to stop Nepal from becoming a smugglers’ haven. 

Furthermore, the detention of our party leader in the wake of his demand for the resignation of the Home Minister and Finance Minister appears to be a retaliatory move.

The author is a senior Nepali Congress leader 

Six members of two families of Nepalgunj, Nepal were killed in a road accident at Shravasti district of India on Saturday.

The deceased have been identified as Baibhav Gupta (35) of Sadarline, Nepalgunj, his wife Dipika Gupta (32), their three-year-old son Dallu Gupta and six-month-old daughter Shreya Gupta, Nilans Gupta (22) of Tribhuvan Chowk of Nepalgunj and his sister Sunita Gupta (20).

The accident took place when a car bearing Indian registration number plate UP 47 W 1217 en route to Nepalgunj from Balrampur of India hit a cow at Shravasti district, said SP Santosh Singh Rathore of the District Police Office, Banke.

Critically injured in the incident, car driver Ajay Mishra is receiving treatment at a hospital.

SP Rathore said that preparations are underway to complete the necessary process to bring the bodies to Nepal after carrying out postmortem in Bahraich of India.

Along with government-to-government relationships, the Communist Party of China and India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party are competing to cultivate ties with Nepal’s political parties. Keeping their ideological positions at a bay, they are reaching out to all major parties in Nepal.  

High-level delegations from both the CPC and BJP are visiting Kathmandu, while leaders from various political parties in Nepal are also flying to China and India, with more party-to-party level exchange of visits on the cards. 

Political analysts say both New Delhi and Beijing are making a departure from their traditional policy of backing only specific parties and leaders and building ties with all political forces in Nepal, considering the political instability in the country.

The spectacular emergence of the recently formed Rastriya Swatantra Party and the resurgence of Rastriya Prajatantra Party—both of which are challenging the three traditional parties, Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center)—have also forced China and India to recalibrate their approach. 

The CPC has realized that by fostering and nurturing Nepal’s leftist forces is not going to secure China’s interests.  The BJP, which has been in power in India since a decade, also wants to achieve its agendas including Hindutva ideology in Nepal by roping in all political parties. For them, a favorable government in Kathmandu is not enough; they want the overall political environment of Nepal to be on their side.  

Political analyst Lokraj Baral says both the BJP and CPC are adopting “a realistic approach” in building ties with Nepal’s political parties. 

“There is no ideological foundation in such relationships because both sides want to appease each other to enhance their power.” 

Baral says the CPC is still more partial toward Nepali communist parties, even though it has increased its engagements with other political forces.

This week, Yuan Jiajun, member of the political bureau of CPC visited Nepal at the invitation of the ruling Maoist Center. During his stay, Jiajun met leaders from across the political spectrum. As Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal was out of the country, the Chinese leader held a virtual meeting with him. 

While the Chinese leader was in Kathmandu, a five-member delegation led by Phampha Bhushal of the Maoist party flew to India at the invitation of the BJP. The ties between the BJP and Maoist are only just evolving. Sources say lately, India's ruling party has also been approaching the UML.  

As for the Nepali Congress, it has always been close to India. Last year, the BJP had invited a group of leaders from the Congress party, which was led by Prakash Sharan Mahat. Former prime minister and Congress president, Sher Bahadur Deuba, had also visited the BJP headquarters in India before holding bilateral talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

The engagement between China’s CPC and Nepal’s Maoist party has been there for a long time. During the insurgency period, Beijing largely supported Nepal’s monarchy, but it took no time to reach out to the Maoists, led by Prime Minister Dahal, after the party came to power following the fall of monarchy. Ideological proximity between the CPC and Maoist party brought them together. In the past six months, at least two Maoist delegations including one led by former speaker Agni Sapkota have visited China.  

Since the Maoist party is in power right now, Prime Minister Dahal is making utmost effort to strike a balance between India and China. He needs the support of both the CPC and BJP to stay in power.

But scores of Maoist leaders believe that they should step up engagement with China to reap the benefit from its economic development.

They are of the view that Nepal should immediately implement the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and other agreements reached between the two countries. Through cooperation with Nepal’s political parties, China wants to replicate its development model in Nepal, not export its political ideology, say some experts. 

Due to increased interactions, Nepali leaders too have started appreciating China’s development and its model.

During his talks with Nepali leaders, Chinese leader Jiajun said that China is willing to deepen practical cooperation under the BRI with Nepal, and deeply and solidly promote the strategic partnership of cooperation featuring ever-lasting friendship for development and prosperity between two countries.

China’s Xinhua news agency reported that the CPC is willing to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning with Nepali political parties to boost the development of China-Nepal relations. Jiajun told Nepali leaders that China is willing to enhance cooperation and exchanges with Nepal in agriculture, poverty reduction and education to enrich the relationship between the two countries through subnational exchanges.

Tanka Karki, former Nepali ambassador to China, says it is normal to build party-to-party relationships and there is nothing harmful about it. “Both countries want to enhance people-to-people relationship and political parties remain a key instrument of it.”

The relationship between Nepal’s Maoist party and the BJP is a new one. In July last year, as a party chair, Dahal visited the BJP headquarters in New Delhi and held talks with BJP President JP Nadda. After one year, BJP hosted the Maoists delegation in its party office for what they call to strengthen party-to-party relationship.

Perhaps, it is the result of cordial ties between the BJP and Nepal’s political parties, many Nepali politicians including Prime Minister Dahal are talking about protecting and promoting Hindu religion and culture.  

Not only India and China, the US, the UK and the EU countries are also trying to enhance their influence among Nepal’s political parties through bilateral exchanges and visits. They are mainly close with parliamentarians to influence the law-making process in Nepal.  

Political analyst Chandra Dev Bhatta says India and China’s increased engagements between the political parties of Nepal, can certainly be helpful to enhance relations at the political level which can also percolate at the peoples level.

“This is also particularly important when diametrically opposite political parties in terms of ideology are in power on both sides— BJP in India and Maoist Centre in Nepal. It will help resolve contentious issues between the two countries,” he says. “But if such engagements are done merely for other interests either to stay in power or to create a comfortable regime, they could backfire and damage the relations.”