The Hindu : National : "Whatever is in the pipeline for Nepal cannot be held back"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 11, 2005

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National

"Whatever is in the pipeline for Nepal cannot be held back"

Amit Baruah

U.S. has not taken a stand on India's U.N. bid, says Manmohan Singh

"My advice to His Majesty was that he should restart the political process, outline a road map to bring back democracy to Nepal."

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said it was "true" that the United States had not taken any position on India's bid to enter the United Nations Security Council as a permanent member, but stressed it was important for the U.S. to be supportive of India's aspirations.

Asked to comment on the fact that the U.S. was the only member of the P-5 not to have supported India's case despite being a strategic partner, Dr. Singh said, "This is true. The U.S. has not taken any public position. There's nothing more I can say about that."

On whether India wanted to enter the Council with or without the veto, the Prime Minister stated, on board his special aircraft, that it was no use counting "your chickens before they are hatched."

"There are many problems on the way (of Council membership). I wouldn't minimise the difficulties. International relations, beyond a point, are power relations. We know that power in the world is not equally distributed. Therefore, one has to reckon with all the power equations. We are trying, but I would not like to minimise the hurdles that are still in the way."

On Nepal, the Prime Minister confirmed a report in The Hindu on Tuesday that arms supplies in the pipeline had been sent to Nepal. "It's possible (that the supplies have gone). Whatever is in the pipeline, we cannot hold it back."

Asked if he had been "ambushed" by King Gyanendra, who went public on the issue after his recent meeting with Dr. Singh in Bandung, the Prime Minister said, "I would not like to comment on that."

"My advice to His Majesty was that he should restart the political process, outline a road map to bring back democracy to Nepal," he said, adding that India's position remained that constitutional monarchy and multiparty democracy were the twin pillars of governance in that country.

On the first standalone meeting of Indian, Chinese and Russian Foreign Ministers on June 2 in Vladivostok, the Prime Minister responded that there were immense possibilities of cooperation.

"My Government's approach is to enlarge the concentric circles in which we work together with like-minded countries to take advantage of the processes unleashed by globalisation and, therefore, the tripartite meeting of Foreign Ministers is a positive step forward.

"It is essentially an essay in mutual comprehension to understand each other's concerns of how we can, wherever possible, work together in this increasingly interdependent world."

Asked if energy cooperation would be on the agenda, the Prime Minister said this was an important issue as India's energy needs were rising steeply. On the other hand, there were producing countries like Russia and suitable arrangements could be worked out.

About the recent statements made by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Kashmir, the Prime Minister said he had not kept himself fully informed about these remarks, but stressed the importance of the two leaders agreeing on the irreversibility of the peace process in their April joint statement.

On whether Gen. Musharraf had indeed demonstrated a change of heart in his dealings with India, Dr. Singh replied: "I am not very good at reading hearts."

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