Economic agenda tops prime minister’s visit
NEW DELHI, OCT 23 - Economic diplomacy has been the major thrust of Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai’s current India visit.
In his three days in the Indian capital, he has strongly advocated for the protection of Indian investments in Nepal, something that has been taken note of here by political leaders, the media and, not least, the business community.
And across the board, there is ready acknowledgement that India needs to assist Nepal to fight the perennial poverty trap and political instability, one feeding the other in a vicious cycle.
“A strong and stable Nepal is in the interest of India,” declared Sushma Swaraj, the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha on Saturday evening, at a programme organised by the socialist leader Sarad Yadav to welcome PM Bhattarai. “The deadline for completing the peace process and constitution writing has been extended repeatedly.”
She is hardly the first person to wish him luck for a speedy conclusion of the two unfinished businesses so that Nepal could embark on a road to recovery and prosperity and reap the “peace dividends” that have escaped the country despite the end of civil conflict in 2006.
Though saddled by intra- and inter-party battles back home, Prime Minister Bhattarai has presented a very brave face here, talking mostly like a resolute visionary, rather than a clever politician.
Without provisions for protection of foreign investments, particularly in the high-cost infrastructure development, Nepal, the prime minister reasons, will continue to be a backwater, its vast young population deeply under-utilised. As the country wallows in the current rate of low growths and instability, more and more Nepali youths will leave the country in search of livelihoods to foreign lands, robbing the country of much needed human resource.
The prime minister, by his own admission, has come to India with a single-minded focus to woo investments to break the poverty trap.
“We, in Nepal, have been keenly observing India’s sustained and spectacular economic development in the midst of global economic stagnation,” he said on Friday at the banquet hosted by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“You have demonstrated by example that the leadership and determination, backed with conducive policy environment, stimulates economic development and prosperity which others can emulate.”
With India and China booming, Nepal needs to establish linkages to make most of their growths, argued Bhattarai. “We believe the dividends of prosperity across our borders should benefit our own people and businesses,” said the prime minister. “From this perspective, we see great economic value and opportunities in developing Nepal as a vibrant bridge between our neighbours on the way to shared prosperity.”
Source: Kantipur
