By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Nov. 5: Government authorities seem more confident now than ever in their conversation about Nepal’s external relations, thanks to a line-up of foreign policy initiatives, including economic diplomacy, at work.
In a breakfast meeting with senior editors and journalists Monday morning, an enthused Foreign Minister recalled how the protracted decade of transition to peace had made a dent in the confidence of the nation in dealing with neighbours and friends on an equal footing.
“The transition had impacted every sector, including the external sector, in terms of policy, engagement and institution,” Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said. “The people voted to end the transition … the constitution and a stable government they gave helped boost the country’s image in the international arena.”
On assuming office about 20 months ago, Foreign Minister Gyawali initiated work to enhance policy-level clarity, the country’s external engagement and, on the internal front, institutional consolidation, in a blend of continuity and innovation.
“Some fundamental issues of national interest won’t change even when the regime, let alone the government, changes,” he said. “Policy change happens because of the change in the country’s priorities within, because foreign policy is an extended form of domestic policy, reflected in the priorities within. The second is the changing geopolitics.”
In the conversation, Minister Gyawali reiterated that formula of “amity with all, enmity with none” had come handy for the country to relate to the neighbours and friends in a world that was becoming multipolar from bipolar. He reasserted the relevance of non-alignment for identity and justice for the low income countries.
Quoting Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Minister Gyawali said nations might be big in size or influence, but their pride and sovereignty would be equal in dealing with one another.
All these gave the bases on which, Gyawali said, the government enhanced the frequency of external interactions, featuring exchange of high level visits. “Many guests have come, from Pakistan, BIMSTEC and APEC, including Indian Prime Minister and Chinese President,” he noted with the confidence of a successful host, waiting for the impending visit of Bangladeshi president in a week.
“I am going to Russia in two weeks,” Minister Gyawali informed, making mention of the high level visits from Nepal to Britain, France, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Costa Rica and his own visit to the United States of America. “Prime Minister Oli is visiting Germany next year.”
These engagements were possible, Gyawali said, because of the geopolitical opportunities and because there was stability in the country.
On the forefront of all these engagements, Gyawali noted, was economic diplomacy.
In a conversation for Sunday’s Gorkhapatra Sambad, a weekly feature of TRN, Finance Minister Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada explained why economic diplomacy was the foreign policy pathway to the country’s economic prosperity.
“Nepal needs a big investment from external sources, almost 50% more than the present investment, to develop the means and resources for public, community and private sectors and for the federal, state and local governments, in laying down the basic infrastructure and alleviating poverty on the country’s path to economic prosperity,”
Dr. Khatiwada stressed the need to mobilise support from multilateral agencies, biggest bilateral donor countries, private foreign investors, alongside domestic investors, community organisations, and cooperatives, as partners to “our larger strategy” for economic development.
He said foreign policy and economic diplomacy aimed at mobilising more resources, not just money, but technology, developing international markets for the country’s production, and increasing export and access to international markets, managing international labour relations better for the medium term and making Nepal a centre for investment and tourism.
“We don’t want to get entangled in any conflict of strategic interest in the world. We want to have relations of co-work and goodwill with all countries while moving ahead on the path of our national interest,” Dr. Khatiwada said. “Sometimes, foreign relations get entangled even on the front of economic diplomacy. We should use our diplomacy with conscience.”
Elaborating on the idea, he noted, neighbourhood first was Nepal’s policy also – but the countries that were very important in making international policies, such as the USA and European Union, also had their viewpoints about global development. “Our duty will be to understand their viewpoints closely and mobilise the support received from them according to our national priorities and interests. We are trying to take the MCC assistance in that manner,” he said.
That support, he said, was to be used in Nepal’s national interest. “That is not a military alliance. That does not have any other obligation. The assistance is for Nepal, in areas ascertained as priorities by Nepal -- it is about mobilising this assistance. As it was being tabled in the parliament, some lawmaker raised a question if that was part of any strategic plan … this is not, this is a pure assistance for the energy sector, to push ahead the renewable energy source and for the transmission line.”