China begins extension of railway to Nepal border

China has started its works to extend the Qinghai-Tibet railway from Lhasa towards the Nepal border, RSS reported.

According to Chinese media, the 253-kilometre-long railway project is set to link the Tibetan capital of Lhasa to Xigaze within a period of four years.

Xigaze city is located to the southwest of Lhasa which lies at the foot of Mt. Everest and borders of Nepal.

China also expects that the railway link will be helpful to speed up Tibet’s social and economic development.

The railway project that will link Lhasa to the eastern Tibet city of Nyingchi and another route to Nepal border are currently in the planning phase.

In October last year, prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal had also urged China to extend the Beijing-Lhasa railway line till Kathmandu keeping in view to develop economic infrastructure on the Himalayan transit points between Nepal and China…more

Nepal has not gone anarchic, says ICG

An international think tank has said Nepal’s transition from war to peace is not anarchic, though it appears chaotic, messy and confusing. In a new report released on Wednesday International Crisis Group (ICG) said, “there is an order within the political change, albeit one that can be mysterious and unappealing to outsiders; the resilience of Nepal’s political processes acts against fundamental transformations.”

The report attempts to understand the country’s political processes and cultures and reassess the state of the peace process by examining three major questions.

According to the assessment by the group, the shift from war to peace was rapid and remains incomplete but the peace process is much stronger than it often seems. There have been significant structural transformations in the Maoist movement since the 2006 ceasefire. It says, the Maoists remain highly organised and disciplined – and the most effective political force in Nepal.

The political atmosphere is more polarised than ever. Factions within the major parties as well as fringe groups openly call for a revision of the peace process and neither side is likely to go back to war easily but there are also limits to how hard they can be pushed. ICG says, the Maoists are by now better prepared for open politics than for war but they will not accept sidelining indefinitely while the army has some elite support for renewed conflict but it is unlikely to act without Delhi’s nod, which is itself improbable unless there is unexpected Maoist domination of the state….more

Silver lining to deadlock cloud?

John Narayan Parajuli 
KATHMANDU, SEP 27 -
A day after Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal formally withdrew  from the prime ministerial race, political parleys appear to be a “potential breakthrough.” The discussion between Dahal and Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on Monday centred on the package deal that would address the crucial issues of the peace process, constitution and power sharing among major parties.

“Both Prime Minister Nepal and Chairman Dahal agreed to work out a package deal,” said Suro Jung Pandey, Press Assistant to the prime minister. On Sunday, right after the 8th round of failed prime ministerial polls, UML Chairman Jhala Nath Khanal had said that a credible basis of national consensus was being prepared. Monday’s development appears to be a part of those ongoing consultations.

The discussion between Nepal and Dahal, described as “positive” by some attendees, comes a day after Nepali Congress’ prime ministerial contender and the sole candidate in the field Ram Chandra Poudel put a condition for his withdrawal from the race. He said he wanted the Maoists and other parties to come up with a basis for agenda-based agreement that would lead to detachment of the Maoists from their combatants first. In the dialogue between Dahal and Nepal, there was a “meeting of minds” to expedite the integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants. “Dahal told Nepal that the special committee needs to be made proactive to expedite the tasks relating to the integration of the combatants,” Sameer Dahal, an aide to Maoist leader Dahal quoted him as saying. Monday’s discussion comes against the backdrop of a series of agreement reached between the Maoists, the government and the UML since Sept. 13 on extending UNMIN’s term and ending the deadlock on government formation. But  Dahal’s latest overtures are seen by some in the UML as an attempt to kill two birds with one stone.

A senior UML leader said the Maoists’ willingness to make concessions to quickly move

forward on the integration issue is triggered by certain calculations. “They feel that if they can fulfil the preconditions set by other parties for a Maoist-led government, namely the detachment of

arms and armies while a caretaker government is in place, they can claim the next government’s leadership,” he said.more

Nepal, Turkey sign ASA

Nepal and Turkey have inked Air Service Agreement (ASA) to operate aviation service between two countries.

Kishor Thapa, secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, and Dr Ali Ariduru, director general of Civil Aviation Department of Turkey, signed the agreement in the Ankara. Read more

Maoists riding a tiger: Can’t call off stir, can’t go on

AKHILESH UPADHYAY 
KATHMANDU, MAY 06 -
On the fifth day of their indefinite strike on Thursday, Maoists faced retaliation across the country, with at least three violent incidents reported in the Capital. Curfew was clamped in Parbat (West), Jumla (Mid West) and Dhankuta (East). Timely intervention by the police stopped the confrontation between Maoists and pro-Hindu activists in Birgunj (Central Tarai) from getting out of hand. Still, sources say, the danger is far from over and that the Central and Eastern Tarai could see major flare-ups in the near future.

Opinion is divided over whether these incidents have been engineered or are spontaneous. It could be both.

Organised forces seem to have tapped on the growing public anger over a strike that has severely crippled life and shows no early sign of ending. An informed source had told this correspondent as far back in February that “strong ground preparations” were on to counter the Maoists across the country and that the anti-Maoist surge would be especially evident in the Tarai where “they will be completely annihilated.”

The major bone of contention has been the modalities (and the number) for the integration and rehabilitation of the Maoist combatants. Agreement on the issue and commitment to a date, say NC and UML leaders, will go a long way in convincing them that the Maoist party is committed to transforming itself to a civilian party. Non-Maoist parties also want an agreement on a framework and quick action on returning seized property; this is especially urgent for the NC. “Those two issues and dismantling the barracks of YCL would go a long way in assuring us that the Maoists are serious about keeping their pledge to past accords,” says Pradeep Gyawali, a UML central committee leader ……….

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Maoist agitators face public fury

KATHMANDU, MAY 06 -
Fed up to the gills of the general strike imposed by the UCPN (Maoist), enraged locals at various places in the Capital took to the streets and retaliated against the agitating Maoists on Thursday. In the ensuing clashes, 12 persons including a child were injured while two motorcycles were torched.

 Tension ran high in Budhanilakantha, Jorpati, Boudhha, Kapan and Basundhara on the fifth day of the strike after the banda enforcers and enraged locals clashed. Police said over a dozen people were injured in course of anti-banda demonstrations.

Claiming that the Maoists forcibly imposed the banda, locals in Budhanilakantha swarmed out on the streets and defied the banda by opening market places. However, the situation turned nasty when a huge number of Maoist cadres reached there and threatened anyone who defied the strike.

Pulling down shutters, the banda enforcers pelted anti-strike locals with stones in which a nine-year-old child, Roshan Magar, sustained serious injury on his head, said Sub-inspector Bharat Regmi who was present during the clash. Magar was rushed to TU Teaching Hospital……….

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Nepal: A Political Crisis and Indo-Chinese Tensions

Summary

Nepalese Prime Minister Prachanda resigned on May 4 in protest of the president’s decision to block the Maoist leadership from sacking Nepal’s army chief. While the political disarray in Nepal threatens to break the government apart, it also has stirred a long-standing rivalry between India and China over the Himalayan country.

Analysis

Nepal’s Maoist Prime Minister Prachanda resigned May 4 in protest of the Nepalese president’s decision to block the elected Maoist government from firing the country’s army chief. The Nepalese government is now in danger of collapsing as India scrambles to form a coherent policy toward Kathmandu to counter China’s growing influence in the Himalayan country. The Maoist leadership, meanwhile, will draw on Indo-Chinese competition over Kathmandu in an attempt secure its political demands. Read more