Development Diplomacy In Spotlight

The government, led by Prime Minister Balendra Shah, has completed 100 days in office today. During this period, the government put its best foot forward to implement the ‘100-point reform plan’ that the first Cabinet meeting endorsed on March 27. The reform plan is based on the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP)’s electoral promises made before the people in the March 5 elections. The party fought the historic elections on the planks of corruption control, good governance and stability. The snap polls were held in the wake of the Gen Z uprising that shook the nation last September. Thousands of youths took to the streets against corruption, nepotism, political syndicate, inflation and unemployment. The then government’s authoritarian move to put a ban on the social media platforms triggered the youth revolution that resonated beyond the national border. 

The main agenda of the youth revolt was to establish a clean government capable of delivering goods and services to the people effectively and efficiently. In the spirit of the Gen Z movement, the government rolled out the time-bound reform schemes considered the starting point of good governance and prosperity. Delivering justice to the martyrs and victims of the Gen Z movement received higher priority from the government. The first Cabinet meeting decided to implement the report submitted by the Gauri Bahadur Kakri-led investigation commission. The next day, former prime minister Oli and former minister for home affairs Ramesh Lekhak were arrested and sent to judicial custody for their alleged role in the killing of youths. 

Action accelerates

True to its words, the government swung into action against those implicated in various corruption cases and malfeasance. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police started investigating the assets of three former prime ministers - Sher Bahadur Deuba, Oli, and Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda in a money laundering case at the request of the Department of Money Laundering Investigation. The administration decided to make public and enforce all reports of the past. As per this, it moved ahead to implement the Rawal report to take back the government land encroached by different individuals and organisations. The arrest of vice-chair of Nepal’s Shankar Group Sulav Agrawal, controversial businessperson Deepak Bhatta and CPN-UML vice-chair Bishnu Paudel in connection with the money laundering investigation suggests that the government is getting tough with anyone who has siphoned off the state’s coffers for their personal gain.

On Thursday, the House of Representatives endorsed the Anti-Money Laundering (Third Amendment) Bill, 2083, the Cooperative (First Amendment) Bill, 2083 and the Public Procurement (Second Amendment) Bill, 2083, giving impetus to the efforts at ensuring good governance and effective delivery.  In the past, the anti-money laundering law was weaponised to suppress the opposition leaders but the present government has clearly stated that misuse of the anti-money laundering law only undermines the country’s financial credibility. As a result, its repeated attempts to come off the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list have faltered. 

One of the significant gains of the government is its adoption of a pragmatic foreign policy. It has embraced ‘developmental diplomacy’ aimed at mustering international support to the country’s overall economic development.  RSP chairman Rabi Lamichhane has repeatedly stated that his party as well as the government have put emphasis on ‘development diplomacy’ to attain inclusive growth and promote economic cooperation with neighbouring countries, friendly nations, and international institutions, without strings attached. It promotes national sovereignty and interest, with a focus on foreign direct investment, trade, technology transfer, capacity building and building global partnerships. 

Pro-development party

In his speech delivered at the RSP's first general convention held in Chitwan recently, Prime Minister Shah announced that it is a pro-development party. This implies that development policy and programmes must not come under the undue influence of geopolitical considerations. Prime Minister Shah has expressed his commitment to nationalism. He has reiterated his stance that Nepal has sufficient evidence to prove that Kalapani, Lipulek and Limpiyadhura belong to Nepal. The border issue will be sorted out through bilateral talks. 

The government has successfully implemented the Diplomatic Code of Conduct (2077/2026) that provides guidelines for the meetings and communication between high-ranking officials and foreign guests. The code obliges the ministers and top officials to secure prior approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to hold talks with foreign visitors and the two-sided interactions need to be officially recorded. This provision helps maintain protocol, decorum and transparency. This arrangement is vital for keeping institutional memory of the state and deter unauthorised and undocumented meetings with foreign leaders. 

(The author is the Managing Editor of this daily.)