Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
02KATHMANDU1216
2002-06-20 12:36:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

NEPAL'S KING HEADS TO INDIA AFTER COMPLETING FIRST

Tags:  PGOV PREL PINR PTER NP 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 001216 

SIPDIS

LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2012
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PTER NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL'S KING HEADS TO INDIA AFTER COMPLETING FIRST
YEAR ON THRONE

REF: 01 KATHMANDU 1673

Classified By: Ambassador Michael E. Malinowski, Reasons 1.5 (b),(d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 001216

SIPDIS

LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2012
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR PTER NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL'S KING HEADS TO INDIA AFTER COMPLETING FIRST
YEAR ON THRONE

REF: 01 KATHMANDU 1673

Classified By: Ambassador Michael E. Malinowski, Reasons 1.5 (b),(d).


1. (C) Summary. The first trip abroad as monarch by Nepal's
King Gyanendra will be a visit to India June 23-30.
Gyanendra laid the groundwork for the trip in his first-ever
interview with the foreign press, granted to a leading Indian
daily, when he played to India's conservative government by
emphasizing the common cultural heritage shared by Nepal and
India. The King's visit comes on the heels of an Indian
military delegation's assessment tour of Nepal and
controversy surrounding Indian government allegations that
Pakistani militants are operating from Nepali soil. He will
likely seek New Delhi's help combating the Maoist insurgency
and support for Nepal's embattled democracy, while India will
push for Kathmandu to crack down on rumored anti-Indian
elements. Gyanendra has become less unpopular over the past
year, burnishing his image by appearing in a ceremonial role
at religious events and making measured statements to the
press in support of the constitution. Given the
extraordinary and traumatic circumstances accompanying the
beginning of Gyanendra's reign -- the massacre of the late
King and all other heirs to the throne -- he will have to
continue to work hard to assert the legitmacy of his
authority with the Nepali public. End Summary.

New King's First Trip Abroad
--------------


2. (C) Nepal's King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah travels to New
Delhi June 23 on his first trip abroad as monarch. Laden
with bilateral symbolism, Gyanendra's week-long visit
reportedly will also include stops at the Kamakhya temple
near Guwahati in the northeastern state of Assam and in
Calcutta, where he will worship at the Kali Temple and meet
with West Bengal's Chief Minister. The head of Nepal's
chambers of commerce federation will accompany the royals and
hold separate meetings, including with the Commerce Minister.
According to a leading businessmen with extremely close ties
to the palace, India's PM Vajpayee hosts a private dinner for
the King upon his arrival in India, the evening before the

official program begins. Such hospitality is extraordinary,
the businessman asserted, and signifies the importance the PM
ascribed to the visit. (Note: The last visit of a Nepalese
monarch to India was in January 1999, when King Birendra
visited New Delhi and made a pilgrimage to see spiritual
leader "Sai Baba" in South India. Birendra was a frequent
visitor to India, and both he and Gyanendra attended school
there as boys. End Note.)

Special Relationship and Common Heritage
--------------


3. (SBU) The businessman also portrayed the visit as a chance
for the King to capitalize on his impressive speaking
ability. During a recent interview with the editor of The
Times of India -- his first to a foreign journalist since
becoming King -- Gyanendra already employed his rhetorical
skills to set the tone for the upcoming visit in remarks
gauged to appeal to India's conservative government. For
example, Gyanendra told The Times that "relations between
Nepal and India are nurtured and enriched by noble ideals,
values and principles inherent in a shared cultural
heritage." The two countries enjoy "traditional bonds as
good neighbors," and Indo-Nepalese ties "remain special
because they are practical, pragmatic and beneficial."

India's Military on Assessment Tour
--------------


4. (C) These "pragmatic" relations will likely take the
concrete form of additional Indian military assistance.
Gyanendra's visit to India will come on the heels of an
inspection by a four-officer Indian military assessment team
now in Nepal. Led by a Major General, the team is visiting
Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) facilities at Dharan, Nepalgunj and
Gorkha. A military source confided to DATT that the team's
visit is redundant, as India is well aware of Nepal's needs
due to the well-developed and on-going relations between the
two militaries. The speculation is that India launched the
team to re-assert India's primary role in providing security
assistance to Nepal after a U.S. PACOM team spent 22 days in
the Kingdom in April.

Pakistani Militants Reported in Nepal
--------------

5. (U) The King's visit also comes in the wake of
headline-grabbing statements by Indian Home Minister Advani
charging that bases have been established in Nepal by two
Pakistan-based militant groups: Lashkar-e-Toiba and
Jaish-e-Mohammed. Nepal's Foreign Ministry denied reports
that New Delhi provided Kathmandu with information about such
bases, but added that Nepal would take appropriate action if
such evidence came to light.

All Uphill Year for the Monarchy
--------------


6. (C) Gyanendra was crowned King on June 4, 2001 in the
midst of rioting that followed the shooting deaths of King
Birendra and eight other family members on June 1. (Note:
The King will come out of mourning for his late brother
Birendra only on June 20, and for his late nephew and
regicide Dipendra on June 22, auspicious dates marking the
end of the lunar year of mourning. Observers expect him to
become an even more visible presence after those dates. End
Note.) Widely unpopular at the time of his enthronement --
many suspected him of having a hand in the June 1 massacre --
the new King has gained the reluctant acceptance of the
Nepalese public over the past year. Carefully calculated
appearances at religious ceremonies and measured public
statements helped burnish his image. Some observers add that
the King's status has appreciated in part because he compares
favorably with Nepal's fractious and ineffectual elected
leaders.

Playing the Religion Card
--------------


7. (SBU) According to Nepalese tradition, the King of Nepal
is an incarnation of Vishnu, a major deity in the Hindu
pantheon. Gyanendra has played up that role in a string of
public appearances at religious sites and ceremonies. He has
even appeared at religious occasions that his father,
Mahendra, presided over, but that were neglected by his late
brother Birendra over the past quarter century. Establishing
his role as a religious figure has helped him gain acceptance
among Nepal's mostly Hindu population -- less than one-third
of whom are literate.

Voicing Support for Constitution
--------------


8. (SBU) In public statements and press interviews Gyanendra
has tried to allay anxieties in some political circles that
he nurtured aspirations of sweeping aside the democratic
system, as his father did. The King has voiced strong
support for Nepal's constitutional system and called for
higher standards of governance and an end to violence
(Reftel). An interview he gave to Nepal's official press
service to mark the anniversary of his enthronement was "very
well received," according to a local journalist. In it the
King said that "public disenchantment and distrust grows if
the basic needs of the people are not fulfilled and state
leaders show indifference to the people's aspirations."
Asked what role he would play if a failure to hold
Parliamentary elections provoked a crisis, he declined to
answer, labeling the question "hypothetical."

The Long, Prudent View
--------------


9. (C) Most observers agree that Nepal's royal palace may be
the only political institution in Nepal focussed on the long
view. To date, the King has gone by the book, supporting the
constitutional limits on the monarchy in both word and
practice. As a leading Nepali journalist put it, the King
knows that if he is personally adventurous, it will be
"doomsday" for his dynasty. At present, Nepal's political
parties are weak and fractious, but eventually they will be
strong again -- and will remember everything the King did,
the journalist concluded.

Comment
--------------


10. (C) Gyanendra's early visit to New Delhi is clearly
calculated to signify acknowledgement of the importance of
India in shaping Nepal's future. Indian assistance will be
key to defeating the Maoist insurgency and to stabilizing the
democratic system in what will be a tenuous run-up to
November elections. We assume the King will seek to solidify
GOI support for the campaign against the Maoist insurgents
and will want to request Vajpayee's assistance in supporting
Nepal's democracy during the current constitutional crisis.
One way would be for India to continue to reign in recently
unseated Nepali Congress Party (NCP) President and former
Prime Minister G.P. Koirala, who maintains close links with
Indian political leaders. In return, New Delhi will likely
press for more proactive Nepali action against anti-Indian
militants reportedly operating out of Nepal.


11. (C) Ironically, the King has been nurturing his image
domestically at the same time that the public image of the
NCP -- the party historically with the closest ties to India
-- is at an all-time low. In his interview with The Times
the King struck a fine balance between emphasizing equality
and sovereignty for the benefit of his domestic audience and
giving a nod to the "special relationship" with India. The
emphasis on his religious role should also play well with
India's Hindu nationalists. As Nepal's political leaders
fight amongst themselves in the lead-up to the elections
called for November, Gyanendra will likely continue to act
with an eye to posterity, playing on his roles as both
constitutional monarch and living deity in an attempt to
establish the legitimacy of his authority. Given the unusual
and distressing circumstances under which King Gyanendra
acceded to the throne, the year-long mourning period may
actually have worked in his favor as it gave the shocked and
suspicious Nepali public time to accept the idea of him as
monarch.
MALINOWSKI