Dev Gurung, MP and deputy leader
of the Parliamentarian Party,
NCP, has said that the Pentagon
statement issued on 1 June on
Nepal Army’s participation in the
Indo-Pacific Strategy is serious and
objectionable.
In the Pentagon statement it is stated
that the Nepal Army is to participate
in the Indo-Pacific Strategy as a
partner from this year. Gurung
has urged the government to issue
a statement refusing such a dictate
of the US, explaining that Nepal, in
accordance to the principles adopted
by its foreign policy, cannot join in
any military pact.
In an interview to a local Online
Danfe TV, Gurung said that Nepal
is a member of the non-aligned
movement and she has adopted the
principle of Panchasheel. Therefore,
Nepal cannot join in any military
alliance.
Gurung, describing the present
global scenario, has said that
the US seems moving towards
armed competition to continue its
dominance in the Asian continent.
Presently, the Asian civilization
and economy most countries in
this region are booming. China is
emerging as an economic giant.
On the other hand, the Western
civilization is in a declining stage.
In the past, in the two great wars,
World War-1 and World War-2,
basically the Western countries were
involved. Therefore, to continue the
economic dominance in Asia, the
West is moving towards military
competition, Gurung explained.
Of late, the US Senate has endorsed
the Asia Reinsurance Act and Tibet
Reciprocal Act. Under these acts,
the US is planning to centralize her
policy in Asia under the Indo-Pacific
Strategy and her focus is on Tibet.
To keep Tibet under the US focalpoint, the US needs to use Nepali
soil, he explained.
The US has considered Japan, South
Korea, Australia and India as the
base countries for Indo-Pacific
Strategy and mobilized other
countries bordering China under
the Strategy.
Earlier, the US had formed NATO to
counter the then USSR. Now, with
the same strategy, America has
initiated the Indo-Pacific Strategy.
Ultimately, the American plan is to
constitute a military alliance under
this Strategy, he said.
Besides from developing a new
military alliance, the US has focused
on mobilizing INGOs and multinational forces to counter China’s
Belt & Road Initiative. The ultimate
goal of the US is to stop China’s
economic growth in Asia and also
the sea trade route from South
China Sea to the Red Sea.
The US has focused on Tibet and if
she is able to separate Xinjiang from China ift will be easier to
control Tibet, Gurung has
explained.
Since the past one year,
the US has prioritized
her relations with Nepal.
Nepal’s foreign minister
was invited to the US and
three American senior
officials have visited Nepal.
Recently, under the IndoPacific Strategy, a joint
military exercise was
conducted in Pokhara.
Although, it was said
that the exercise was for
disaster management, there
was no participation of the
military from Nepal’s two
immediate neighbours,
when six or seven countries
had participated in the
military exercise.
The US is increasing its
influence in Nepal Army,
Gurung said. In 1999, the
Ranger Battalion was
established in the Nepal
Army with the full support
of the US. Presently,
this Battalion has been
expanded into three, which
equals to one Brigade.
Although, they are given
Nepali names they are
functioning under the
American strategy, policy
and funding, Gurung
claimed.
In this process, the
Americans are trying to
transform the Nepal Army
into a American Baby
Army, he claimed.
While going through
the 1 June statement of
Pentagon, it makes one
suspicious whether any
of the ministers has made
a secret deal with the US,
Gurung remarked.
Expressing strong objection
on the Nepal government’s
policy for providing sixmonth-long visa and five
year-long multiple entry
visa to the American
citizens, Gurung said that
Nepal has reciprocated
the US visa policy for
the Nepalis, however,
it is not justifiable. The
geographical structure
of the two countries is
different from all angles,
therefore, Nepal should not
have implemented such a
visa policy.
He further said that there are
volunteers from different
countries, including the US.
But the Nepal government
has discriminated the
volunteers from other
countries by providing
visa just for one year and
providing visa for two years
to the American volunteers.
This is against the foreign
policy of the country, he
said.
Talking about establishment
of the Uranium Research
Center in Mustang, which
is mentioned in the budget
address for the coming
fiscal year, Gurung said
that earlier, a bill was
tabled in the federal
parliament. When it fell
into controversy, the same
bill has been come through
the budget address in a
hidden manner.
He explained, conducting
research on use of Uranium
sounds good, but considering
Nepal’s very poor structures
and state mechanism,
there is the possibility
of foreign dominance in
such a research center.
Multinational centers and
INGOs, which are waiting
for the opportunity, may
influence the government
mechanism easily.
Therefore, this is a very
sensitive issue.
From such mysterious acts,
doubts have been created
about the intention of the
government and whether
the two issues (Indo-Pacific
Strategy and establishment
of the Uranium Research
Center) are interrelated, it
is for the government and
the people to decide.
If there will be a military
partnership in the IndoPacific Strategy, the
Americans will open
military camps in Nepali
soil, which is against the
interests of Nepal’s two
immediate neighbours,
Gurung added.
He claimed that there is
the strong presence of
the American army here
since the country faced a
devastating earthquake in
May, 2015. However, the
Americans are not wearing
any military dress.
Talking about the
Sagarmatha Dialouge, he
said, it also sounds good,
but how will it be managed,
the government has no clear
idea of this.
He gave the example of
Singapore and India on how
such forums are misused.
He said that in Singapore,
there is the Shangrila
Dialogue forum. This
forum is under the grip
of the Western INGOs.
Accordingly, in India, there
is the Rayeshi Dialogue
Forum. On this forum also,
INGOs have developed
partnerships. Both
Singapore and India are
strong in financial positions
as compared to Nepal. When
such forums are misused
by the foreigners in these
countries, there is the
possibility of misuse of the
Sagarmatha Forum by them
as well, Gurung explained.
