| koko |
Posted
on 09-May-02 08:45 AM
Nepal has its day at the White House
CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ WEDNESDAY, MAY 08, 2002 9:29:55 PM ]
WASHINGTON: The Prime Minister of Israel, the King of Jordan and the Crown
Prince of Saudi Arabia in town. Suicide attacks in Israel and Pakistan.
Phone calls from President Bush to Russia's Vladimir Putin and Egypt's Hosni
Mubarak.
Just another regular day in Washington? Not for a dapper figure who ducked
in and out of the White House on Tuesday.
While the middle-east, as usual, occupied center-stage, the Bush White House
fleetingly turned its attention to India's neighbour Nepal, where a Maoist
insurgency that daily kills ten times as many victims as in the middle-east
goes largely unnoticed by the outside world.
But the US administration is sufficiently concerned by developments in the
Himalayan kingdom that President Bush invited the country's Prime Minister
Sher Bahadur Deuba to the White House for talks. This comes only weeks after
Secretary of State Colin Powell made a quick dash during his India visit for
a first-ever visit at that level to Nepal.
Sandwiched between his confabulations with better-known Middle-East players,
Bush's Himalayan sortie went virtually unnoticed by the American media. To
the extent that when Deuba walked out of the West Wing, there was a scramble
in the media gathered outside -- who thought Ariel Sharon had arrived.
When they saw Deuba and his aides with the trademark Nepalese cap, they sank
back, although one cameraman airily remarked, "Let's shoot him first and
then find out who it is."
At the daily White House briefing the Nepal issue took just one question. A
journalist asked spokesman Ari Fleischer if Deuba's visit hadn't been
overshadowed by that of more famous leaders, and if President Bush had been
sufficiently well briefed on the problems in Nepal.
"Any time a visiting head of state has an opportunity to meet with the
President in the Oval Office, they will be the first to tell you how welcome
they feel, and what a nice reflection it is of the United States that no
matter what is going on in the world, the United States treats visiting
heads of state with dignity and grace," Fleischer replied. "And that is
exactly what the President will do with the Prime Minister."
For good measure Fleischer also added, "it's up to the press to determine
what meetings are most newsworthy, but the President welcomes all into the
Oval Office." Regardless of the press and its pecking order, South Asia
congoscenti recognised the meeting as a landmark for US policies in the
region. Nepal is slowly becoming the silent battleground for influence among
major powers in the region and outside.
China, Nepal's neighbour to the north, has long shadowboxed India, which has
historical stakes in the world's only Hindu kingdom. And more recently,
Pakistan has troubled India by ramping up its own operations in Nepal.
Now enters the United States. In recent months, Washington has taken
increasing interest in Nepal's troubles arising from the Maoist insurgency.
US officials say Washington's interest in Nepal stems only from its concern
that the kingdom should not become another hotbed of insurgency and
terrorism in the world - and has nothing to do with the US getting a toehold
their to snoop against or interpose itself between China or India.
State Department officials say Nepal already gets some $33 million a year in
US aid and this could go up substantially in the coming year. The
administration has requested another $20 million in the supplemental
appropriations bill to help the country. Deuba is expected to meet Secretary
of State Colin Powell on Wednesday to discuss aid issues.
The administration is also expected to consider providing some military
equipment to combat the Maoist menace. A survey team from the US Pacific
Command, which has geographical jurisdiction over Nepal, recently visited
the country to examine the security situation.
Increased US presence in Nepal is obviously of immediate concern to India,
which is also closely watching the growing American footprint in Pakistan.
But it is of even greater to China.
So whether of not the Washington media pays attention to the Nepal leader's
visit, the mandarins at the embassies of India, China and Pakistan will
doubtless keep a keen eye on what is transpiring between Kathmandu and
Washington.
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