05 April 2024, NIICE Commentary 9027
Shekher Pokhrel
Foreign policy is generally understood as the extension of the domestic policy. In that account, foreign policy and its instrument, diplomacy is mobilized to attain the national interest of any country. However, policymakers, bureaucracy, think tanks and academia seem to be less concerned about the interplay between foreign policy and domestic polity and how one undermines or reinforces the other in the projection of the national identity and the achievement of the national interests. This article touches upon the reasons behind the anomaly between national interest and its overseas outreach and presents the ways to tackle it.
Policy inconsistency stems from several reasons in Nepal. Fundamentally, it is the instability of the government. Because of the coalition government and endless series of one party aligning with the other in the formation of the government, has resulted in the shift of priorities and policy deviation. Consequently, the government formed could not give continuity to the policy, institutions and programs pursued by the previous governments creating confusion and distrust among the international partners. Such a reckless approach of the government ends up abrogating the agreements reached with previous governments like scraping a deal of Kali Gandaki Hydropower Project, recalling the ambassadors, changing the position of the officials looking after one specific division or area abruptly and disorienting the ministry of foreign affairs, undermining nation’s credibility and know-how to deal with another country.
The next reason is the party-first policy approach of Nepal’s political parties. Every political party in Nepal holds a different historical and ideological baggage. For instance, the Nepali Congress which considers itself the champion of democracy has the legacy of uprooting the Rana Regime and is heavily influenced by the Nehruvian doctrine of socialism, while left-leaning parties draw their inspiration from the socialist version of communism from the erstwhile Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China. Other fringe parties, however, have regional aspirations. Take for example, when they ascend to power they not only pursue their parties’ agendas and interests or show their political affinity with one big neighbour or superpower against the other, such as the Nepali Congress with India and the USA and Communists with China but also go to the extent of fulfilling their personal dreams at the expense of the national interest.
Flaunting of diplomatic etiquette by the political parties and their office bearers and also serving the diplomatic corps is another cause of concern. Newspapers are replete with the reports of the ex-prime ministers queuing up to meet the minister of external affairs in the latter’s residence and found to be regularly in consultation with foreign ambassadors and secret agents to form and change the government in direct breach of international norms and values of diplomatic code of conduct. Lastly, weak negotiation skills and dilapidated mechanism of bureaucracy can be attributed to the dismal performance in the international forum. It is not only the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that negotiates and settles the issues of international and domestic concerns but officials from other line ministries, too, should get engaged on the negotiation table for the fulfilment of the national interest. Hence, there is the necessity of a robust mechanism of bureaucracy.
The chronic problem of the disarray of foreign policy can be addressed by mitigating the inefficiency brought in by the causes discussed earlier. Firstly, a country cannot afford to have inconsistent and contradictory foreign policy coming with the change of the actors in the government. Such delusion from a policy perspective not only jeopardizes national credibility amongst the comity of the nations but also puts a big question mark on the capacity of the country’s independence and sovereignty. Therefore, given our constitutional provisions of election and the experiences we have gathered over the years on the formation of the government, we rather have to stick to the pragmatic approach in the mobilization of our foreign policy. As the life of the government is uncertain, all the political parties should sit together and negotiate on the basic principles, policies and programs on foreign policy so that no matter who holds the charge of the ministry will give continuity to the projects of the outgoing governments. Additionally, no ambassador should be recalled and the personnel heading crucial international divisions be changed. Moreover, the practice of appointing only the career diplomat as ambassador should be started putting an end to the political appointment of the coveted post.
The only way we can tackle the issue of prioritizing party and personal interest is by sacrificing these petty interests for the long-term interest of the country. Unfortunately, all the big or the small political parties of Nepal don’t wait to seize the opportunity to court the big international powers either to retain the longevity of their political rein or reach the top echelon at whatever cost. In order for this to not take place, political parties in the first place should give up the pursuit of power at any cost and deal with the international community to advance the national interest over their party or individual ones. The violation of ethics of diplomacy both by political actors and foreign dignitaries can be controlled by the implementation of the Diplomatic Code of Conduct formulated in 2011. But it is yet to be implemented. We have observed the lack of political will and consensus on it. If executed sincerely, it will effectively curb down unwarranted and undesirable activities of politicians, foreign dignitaries and missions in Nepal.
To conclude, despite being an indispensable component of foreign policy, the domestic polity has not drawn attention to the extent it has to. There are a number of ways domestic issues are having an impact such as inconsistencies of government priorities, competing demands of political actors and the unwarranted leverage the politicians and diplomatic community seek flaunting diplomatic values and norms. These concerns can be overcome if we reach a minimum understanding of how to deal with the international community, give priority to the national interest, strengthen domestic institutions and observe the code of conduct of diplomacy.
Shekher Pokhrel is a Lecturer at the Nepalese Army Institute of Health Sciences.
