100 days of solitude

One hundred days after king Gyanendra’s 1 February 2005 coup, and two weeks after its consequent state of emergency was lifted, Nepal’s international relationships were beginning to get back on track. India resumed military assistance to Nepal, while British and American envoys flew to Kathmandu for talks with Nepali officials.

Excerpts from C K Lal’s State of the State column on Nepal’s equation with the rest of the world, published on issue #247 13 -19 May 2005.

The honeymoon period is over. It is at this point that marriages start going rocky, but for the royal regime, relations with the outside world are actually getting easier

New Delhi set the tone by deciding to resume military supplies that had remained "under review" since February First. Christina Rocca added credence to the softening international stance simply by arriving here via New Delhi.  

That the Americans would go soft was predictable. From the Shah to Marcos to Musharraf, the Americans don't really care as long as strongmen are friendly. 

The Indian U-turn was more surprising and seems to have shocked the parties. In what amounts to a sharp rebuke to Girija Prasad Koirala, New Delhi decided to re-open the military pipeline barely a day after the leader of the seven party alliance made a public plea to Nepal's international friends not to do so in an interview to the BBC Hindi service. 

The national economy is hurting from the fall of remittances from India, the country from which we import all our essential items. To make matters worse, tourist arrivals from India fell by 33 percent compared to last year.

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