Embrace Coherent Foreign Policy

Consistency and coherence are two key elements in the foreign policy of a country. Consistency is an issue of principle and reflects adherence to the policy framework given by the constitution. Coherence ensures that different strands of foreign policy priorities are well integrated, logically and mutually reinforcing. However, if the central government is not homogenous and is coalition of diverse interests groups, maintaining consistency and coherence in foreign policy issues poses a formidable challenge.

Requirement of foreign policy and the inherent traits of coalition government appear antithetical. If stability is the bedrock of foreign policy, instability is the most abiding feature of coalition culture. Nepal has been suffering from instability ever since it embarked on democratisation in 1990. During the course of three decades since, Nepal’s political parties experimented all sorts of coalition governments. At present, a four party coalition is ruling the country. This is the third coalition government since November 2022. 

Coalition government needs to move through series of concessions and compromises. It is difficulty for this to maintain consistent policy direction, take decision and address the issue of accountability. Of all the above, the most challenging problem in coalition government is in hammering out a homogeneous foreign policy framework which is critical for not sending conflicting messages abroad  on important foreign policy matters.

Different perspectives

Coalition partners can afford to hold different views and perspectives on domestic issues. They can postpone contentious agendas and pick up other areas where they have common views to move forward. But on foreign policy issue, no government has the luxury of looking inconsistent or incoherent without incurring a dent on its international image. Foreign policy is an area where consensus and cohesive stance should be presented by the government without letting diversity of views. In domestic policy, every coalition partner may hold divergent views but there must be unanimity among all the coalition partners on the commitments, agreements, or understanding reached with foreign countries. 

For a weak country like Nepal hemmed in by two mighty superpowers with contrary expectations from us, foreign policy implementation is more an art to execute than a principle to adhere to. The complex geopolitical location of Nepal leaves it with a difficult option of balancing its neighour’s expectations and living up to the need to safeguard its sovereignty and national interest. On the one hand, Nepal has a daunting task of operationalising its policy of neutrality vis a vis its close neighbours which are themselves mired in territorial dispute, trade competition and geopolitical rivalry and turning the economic, scientific and technological potential available with these countries to Nepal’s advantage on the other. 

Nepal has been manoeuvring hard to maintain internal stability by managing fragile coalition and transmitting a consistent message to the international community. Despite Nepal’s best of efforts to sound coherent in its external policy, close neighbours are interpreting the change in the government, composition of coalition partners and other factors of internal power equation as signals of tilt in foreign policy priorities. This is enough indication that if the internal political actors float fragmented views on foreign policy issues, seeking to assert their own agendas instead of remaining monolithic, we might unwittingly find ourselves in a geo-political entrapment.

Our foreign policy still leans on the cautionary note of the founding father of this nation, late Prithvi Narayan Shah, who exhorted us that we are fragile and must exercise caution in our relation with our close neighbours.  In his Divyopadesh, he seemed to say that Nepal should rely on China for the safeguard of its sovereignty and remain alert with the India without antagonising it. In today’s context, we should be alert to both the powers and try our best to reap economic and technological opportunities they can offer to us.

The pivot of our relation with our immediate neighbours must be trust, neutrality and transparency. We must be cautious not to send wrong signals through unthoughtful or rash actions because in diplomacy there is more to be read between the lines than what is scripted in policy documents. Coalition government is a like sieve with plenty of holes through which internal discussion may leak out to circulate as diplomatic faux pas. Therefore, a caution is not an option for a coalition government, it is an imperative.

Unified posture

We are living in a very fluid and volatile regional and global context. The Russian-Ukraine war in Central Asia and the Israel-Hamas war in West Asia are spiralling out of control and are set to escalate into a global war. The territorial dispute and arms race between to Asian giants - China and India - are also calibrating to higher intensity. On the other side of the spectrum, relation between Pakistan and India, too, are on the trajectory of heightened hostility. The Maldives and India are in a state of cold war, Sri Lanka is struggling to chart a median path to wriggle out from economic strait it is in and Bangladesh is emerging as a smart player attracting external investment executing a balancing act between China and India without rousing suspicion of one against the other. 

In view of Nepal’s present entanglement in coalition politics and the dim possibility of even 2084 election producing single party majority government, a consensus-driven approach in the foreign policy appears to be the only tool available with us to negotiate our way through ever complex geopolitical landscape. This is an era marked by previously unforeseen geopolitical shifts and challenges posed by climate emergency, terrorism, pandemic and wars. In this situation, the only option left for us is to achieve internal stability through collaboration and to project unified posture on foreign policy to safeguard our sovereignty, foster national unity and achieve prosperity. 

(Dr. Bharadwaj is former ambassador and former chairperson of Gorkhapatra Corporation. bharadwajnarad@gmail.com)