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Posted
on 02-Dec-02 11:01 PM
Nepal insurgency costs India dear
Washington, Dec 3
Nepal's inability to control the Maoist insurgency and the prospect of a confrontation between King Gyanendra and major political parties during such a crisis will affect areas beyond it's borders, especially India's northeast, a leading US think tank has said.
In its South Asia situation report, the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) pointed out that the new King Gyanendra has not been the unifying force his late brother King Birendra was and that Nepal was on the verge of being a failed state.
King Gyanendra has been a more assertive presence than his brother and this increasingly assertive position is changing the relationship between the monarchy and Nepal's fragile multi-party democratic system.
''The danger is that Nepal's deepening instability will affect areas beyond its borders, especially India's troubled northeast,'' it said.
India, traditionally Nepal's most important foreign friend, has provided military equipment and is helping to train RNA counterinsurgency groups, the report said.
Being the country with the most to lose from the Maoist threat, India is concerned about anything that could bring Nepal into closer relations with China, the report added.
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