Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07KATHMANDU550
2007-03-15 09:59:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

UNDER SECRETARY FORE CALLS FOR ROUNDTABLE TO

Tags:  PREL PGOV ECON ENRG PREF PHUM BH IN NP 
pdf how-to read a cable
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000550 

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON ENRG PREF PHUM BH IN NP
SUBJECT: UNDER SECRETARY FORE CALLS FOR ROUNDTABLE TO
ADDRESS ETHNIC UNREST

REF: A. KATHMANDU 530

B. KATHMANDU 525

C. KATHMANDU 537

Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons 1.4 (b/d)

Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000550

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/15/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON ENRG PREF PHUM BH IN NP
SUBJECT: UNDER SECRETARY FORE CALLS FOR ROUNDTABLE TO
ADDRESS ETHNIC UNREST

REF: A. KATHMANDU 530

B. KATHMANDU 525

C. KATHMANDU 537

Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons 1.4 (b/d)

Summary
--------------


1. (C) On March 10, Under Secretary of State Fore urged Prime
Minister Koirala to hold a national roundtable to begin to
address the political concerns of Madhesis as well as ethnic
minorities and other historically disadvantaged groups. The
Prime Minister responded that he had asked Subash Nemwang,
the respected Speaker of the Interim Parliament, to take on
that task. The Under Secretary and the Prime Minister also
discussed the need for a similar roundtable on economic
issues. The Ambassador, who stressed the importance of
hydropower as a source of economic development for Nepal,
promised to provide the Prime Minister with some suggestions
for an economic agenda. The Prime Minister's Advisor
confirmed that the PM supported resettlement of Bhutanese
refugees. Koirala noted that the term of the UN Office of
the High Commissioner for Human Rights was two years.

Solving the Maoist Problem First, Then the Terai
-------------- ---


2. (C) In his March 10 meeting with Under Secretary of State
for Management Henrietta Fore and the Ambassador, Prime
Minister G.P. Koirala explained that the Government of Nepal
(GON) was working to resolve its issues with the Maoists
first. Then it planned to settle its problems with the
Madhesis in the Terai, Nepal's border region with India. In
order to solve the Terai, he said, he was seeking India's
help. Koirala related that he had told New Delhi's
Ambassador to Nepal Shiv Shankar Mukherjee that India had to
give Nepal every sort of assistance because if the Terai
problem persisted (Note: A reference to the at times violent
Madhesi unrest that has plagued the populous region since
shortly after the GON promulgated the Interim Constitution in

mid-January.) India too would be affected. The PM insisted
that the GON had done practically every thing the Madhesis
had asked, citing his second speech to the nation in February
and the amendments to the Interim Constitution that the
Interim Parliament had adopted March 9, which provided, among
other things, that Nepal would be a federal state.

India Being Helpful
--------------


3. (C) The Government of India (GOI) had in fact been
helpful, the PM continued. Koirala said that Hindu
fundamentalists from India were involved in the violence in
the Terai, inciting religious agitation. During the Hindu
festival of Shivaratri (Note: An occasion when hundreds of
thousands of pilgrims travel to Kathmandu's Pashupatinath
Temple.),the GOI had supported the GON by closing the
border. He acknowledged, however, that the GOI was in a very
delicate position. It had to be mindful of the opposition
Bharatiya Janata Party, which drew support from these same
Hindu groups.

National Roundtable To Address Ethnic Minorities Needed
-------------- --------------


4. (C) The Under Secretary of State encouraged the PM to
organize a national roundtable to discuss the whole spectrum
of political concerns of the Madhesis as well as those of
other historically disadvantaged groups, including janjati
(ethnic Tibeto-Burman minorities). This was particularly
necessary in order to ensure they would support the planned
Constituent Assembly elections. Koirala said that he had
asked Subash Nemwang, the Speaker of the Interim Parliament,
to bring all these people together. The Speaker was in the
process of doing that. The Prime Minister described Nemwang
as the perfect man for the job: he held one of the country's

KATHMANDU 00000550 002 OF 003


highest offices and was widely respected. The Ambassador
noted that Nemwang was himself a janjati (note: a Limbu) and
had another advantage of being from the Communist Party of
Nepal - United Marxist Leninist, which was not the Prime
Minister's party. The Ambassador suggested that the
roundtable should discuss the complicated issue of
federalism. The Prime Minister and Chalise concurred: people
needed to have a clear idea what it meant.

Roundtable on Economic Issues Advisable Too
--------------


5. (C) The Under Secretary asked whether the Prime Minister
had decided on an economic way forward once the outstanding
political issues were resolved. This too, she suggested, was
an area where a national roundtable would prove useful. She
inquired specifically what the GON was doing to provide
employment for Nepali youth. Chalise agreed that economic
issues were very important. Economic growth would help the
peace process. The Prime Minister and he both concurred that
a lack of economic opportunity had been a major reason why
the Maoists and other groups had been able to attract so many
Nepali young people. Under Secretary Fore said that people
needed to see a reward for peace. The Foreign Policy Adviser
remarked that the GON had to give people hope.

Hydropower As a Potential Solution
--------------


6. (C) The Ambassador pointed out that Nepal had been
dependent until the present on donors to fund much of its
economic development, to the tune of some USD 500 million a
year. Meanwhile, the country had the opportunity to earn
three or four times that amount annually if it developed its
hydropower potential. The Ambassador said the principal
missing element was a national consensus. That consensus to
develop the country's hydropower resources would then have to
be implemented. Up until now, the GON had been very
cautious. It needed to get the Nepali public on board.
Investors were reluctant to invest because they were unsure
about the GON's support for private investment in the sector.
The Prime Minister stated that the political situation in
the country was not normal. Once it was normal, investors
would have more confidence. The Prime Minister asked the
U.S. to provide him with concrete ideas how to strengthen the
economy and the Ambassador agreed to do so.

Refugees and the UN Human Rights Office Mandate
-------------- --


7. (C) Koirala's Foreign Policy Advisor reiterated that the
Prime Minister continued to support third-country
resettlement of Bhutanese refugees. The Ambassador asked
whether the Prime Minister had decided to extend the term of
the Nepal Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR). Nepal OHCHR Chief Lena Sundh had expressed her
concern that same morning at a breakfast meeting of
political, business and civil society leaders with Under
Secretary Fore that the GON would only allow the office to

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remain open for another six months. Koirala -- and Chalise
-- seemed surprised by the question. The PM said he had
already made his decision: the office would be extended for
another two years. He agreed it still had important work to
do.

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


8. (C) One of the fundamental constraints on the Government
of Nepal faces is its inability to address the range of
problems simultaneously. While it is understandable that the
Prime Minister would want to focus on "fixing" the Maoist
issue, Madhesi unrest in the Terai, which is currently
relatively low-grade in comparison to January and February,
could easily flare up again. This could happen, as a senior
Madhesi leader warned post March 14, if the Maoists decide to
take a hard line on the Terai after joining an interim

KATHMANDU 00000550 003 OF 003


government. The earlier Speaker Nemwang organizes a national
roundtable to address some of the issues of Madhesis and
disenfranchised groups the better (Ref C). Post will pass
the PM's Office ideas on how best to create national
consensus and forward momentum on Nepal's economy. Peace
must be restored. If peace is to last and there is to be a
new Nepal, it will the economy, especially jobs and
opportunities for this country's overwhelmingly youthful
population, that will make all the difference.


9. (U) Under Secretary Fore did not have an opportunity to
clear this message.
MORIARTY