Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04KATHMANDU74
2004-01-09 09:32:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

NEPAL: DE FACTO FOREIGN MINISTER ON SAARC SUMMIT,

Tags:  PREL PGOV PREF NP SAARC 
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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 02 KATHMANDU 000074 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS
LONDON FOR POL - GURNEY
NSC FOR MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/08/2014
TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF NP SAARC
SUBJECT: NEPAL: DE FACTO FOREIGN MINISTER ON SAARC SUMMIT,
BHUTANESE REFUGEES, AND RELATIONS WITH EU

REF: A. 03 KATHMANDU 2501 (NOTAL)

B. KATHMANDU 0055 (NOTAL)

C. 03 KATHMANDU 2491 (NOTAL)

Classified By: AMB. MICHAEL E. MALINOWSKI. REASON: 1.5 (B,D).

-------
SUMMARY
--------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000074

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS
LONDON FOR POL - GURNEY
NSC FOR MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/08/2014
TAGS: PREL PGOV PREF NP SAARC
SUBJECT: NEPAL: DE FACTO FOREIGN MINISTER ON SAARC SUMMIT,
BHUTANESE REFUGEES, AND RELATIONS WITH EU

REF: A. 03 KATHMANDU 2501 (NOTAL)

B. KATHMANDU 0055 (NOTAL)

C. 03 KATHMANDU 2491 (NOTAL)

Classified By: AMB. MICHAEL E. MALINOWSKI. REASON: 1.5 (B,D).

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) In a January 9 meeting with the Ambassador, de facto
Foreign Minister Amb. Bekh Bahadur Thapa discussed the SAARC
Summit, recent problems in beginning the repatriation of
Bhutanese refugees, and a possible EU demarche criticizing
the Government of Nepal's (GON) failure to restore peace and
democracy. Thapa said he believes the presence of smaller
countries at the SAARC Summit provided welcome "space" that
helped Pakistan and India move forward on bilateral issues.
Following the December 22 melee at a Bhutanese refugee camp
(Ref A),Thapa said he would seek written confirmation from
the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGOB) of its earlier oral
commitment to provide a conducive environment for repaptiated
Bhutanese refugees. He is considering traveling to Brussels
to discuss GON relations with the EU, following indications
that EU governments may deliver a joint demarche chastising
the GON for the continuing hiatus in multi-party democracy.
End summary.

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SAARC: SMALLER COUNTRIES PROVIDE "SPACE"
--------------


2. (C) Ambassador-at-Large and de facto Foreign Minister
Bekh Bahadur Thapa opened a January 9 meeting with the
Ambassador by expressing satisfaction that the recently
concluded SAARC Summit helped provide a vehicle for improved
communication between India and Pakistan. SAARC's regional
context made it easier for the two neighbors to meet, Thapa
said, while the presence of the smaller South Asian nations
gave the two regional giants some welcome "space" in which to
begin addressing their bilateral issues. At one particularly
difficult point during the bilateral discussion at the
Summit, Thapa said the Indian and Pakistani Foreign Ministers
invited him in, in his capacity as Ministerial Chair of the
Summit. He felt both India and Pakistan wanted the

facilitation and mediating presence of other countries to
give these initial discussions a regional blessing or gloss.
The successful Summit has made the future scenario for SAARC
much brighter, he concluded.

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BHUTANESE REFUGEES: PICKING UP THE PIECES
--------------


3. (C) Following the December 22 melee at Khudunabari
refugee camp (Ref A),Thapa said he did not know what to
expect from the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGOB). (Note:
Upon being told that certain categories of refugees could
have only one employed member per family and that certain
others would be held in police custody apart from their
families, disgruntled refugees began pelting RGOB
representatives with stones. The RGOB representatives left
Nepal almost immediately, and further efforts toward
repatriation remain stalled. End note.) Government of Nepal
(GON) representatives on the Joint Verification Team at the
camp that day had the impression that the RGOB
representatives were deliberately trying to discourage the
refugees from returning to Bhutan, Thapa reported. He
speculated that the RGOB might use the incident as a pretext
to discontinue repatriation efforts. Nonetheless, "one more
time we will give the benefit of the doubt" that the RGOB is
sincere in trying to resolve the refugee problem, Thapa
continued. In previous bilateral discussions on the issue,
the RGOB had given the GON verbal commitments that it would
create a conducive environment for repatriation, i.e.,
promising that refugees would be given full social benefits,
including employment opportunities, and would not face
open-ended confinement to transition camps. The conditions
described by RGOB representatives to the refugees on December
22 were "pretty contrary to those claims," Thapa observed.
The GON will now request that the RGOB articulate in writing
its earlier oral commitments. Nepali MFA representatives
will also talk with the refugees, urging them not to resort
to violence in the future to express their frustrations.

4. (C) Thapa added that he had recently received a letter
from Jean-Marie Fakhouri, UNHCR Director for Asia, informing
the GON that it will be difficult for the UNHCR to support
repatriation without being permitted more direct involvement
in the process. Thapa emphasized that the GON has always
supported third-party involvement and monitoring of the
repatriation process, but had been forced by the RGOB's
consistent opposition to UNHCR involvement to agree to
exclude the organization.

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EU "DISCOMFORT" AT POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
--------------


5. (C) Thapa reported that the Irish Ambassador (resident in
New Delhi) had called on him earlier in the week to
communicate EU "discomfort" at recent political developments
in Nepal. Thapa said that the Ambassador made an oblique
reference to a possible joint demarche by EU Chiefs of
Mission to the GON, the political parties, and, indirectly,
to the Maoists. According to Thapa, the Irish Ambassador
indicated that EU governments believe that King Gyanendra's
attempt to reconcile with the political parties (Ref B) will
fail. Thapa said he felt his own sense of discomfort that EU
governments had apparently prejudged the outcome of the
King's initiative before it had even started. Noting that he
was considering traveling to Brussels to lay out the GON's
case, he asked Ambassador Malinowski if he had heard similar
comments from his European counterparts in Kathmandu. The
Ambassador said he had heard indirectly that at least one
government may propose postponing the upcoming donor
conference because of human rights concerns and the absence
of a democratically elected government. He lamented that
some European governments were quick to condemn the GON, but
were comparatively silent on Maoist abuses. He noted that
Maoist leader Prachanda had told Madhav Nepal, General
Secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist

SIPDIS
Leninist (UML),in a November 20 meeting in India that the
Maoists perceive the Europeans and Scandinavians as
"sympathetic" to the insurgency (Ref C).

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COMMENT
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6. (C) While the King's initiative may well fail for a
variety of reasons, our discussions with political party
leaders (Ref B) indicate that most are still weighing the
King's gesture, with some--like Madhav Nepal and Pashupati
Rana--attempting to frame at least part of the consensus the
King requested. If Amb. Thapa's description of the EU
position is correct, we consider it unfortunate that our
European colleagues have apparently decided to make up the
parties' minds for them and condemn this effort before it has
a chance to succeed. This is the first time that we have
heard a GON official at any level question so bluntly the
RGOB's sincerity in resolving the refugee issue. The GON's
unwillingness to rely any longer solely on the "good faith"
and verbal representations of the RGOB about repatriation may
prove a substantial stumbling block to further bilateral
progress on this matter.
MALINOWSKI