OPINION: Reaching Out To Tibetans In Nepal

It would be highly detrimental to the cause of Tibetan freedom and democracy if Kathmandu signed an extradition treaty with Beijing during any trip of Nepalese Prime Minister to China. The US, India and allies must reach out to the Nepalese leadership and prevent it from inking the treaty.

In the wake of reports in a section of the media that Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal will be visiting China in the near future, speculation is rife his trip might lead to an extradition treaty between Beijing and Kathmandu.

Observers say the speculation is not devoid of substance. The whole world knows what communist China has been up to in Tibet since it occupied the plateau. It is separating families in Tibet, banning their language and engaging in non-consensual DNA collection. It is annihilating Tibetan language, religion and culture.

Following the Tibetan uprising in 1959, thousands of Tibetans fled their homeland to different locations in the world. Currently, around 20,000 Tibetan refugees are living in 12 designated camps in Kathmandu and Pokhara in Nepal. China wants the dissidents amongst them to be taken back to the mainland for punishment.

With this objective in mind, in October 2019, during Chinese Communist Party general secretary and President Xi Jinping's visit to Kathmandu, China signed with Nepal the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters. This enables the signatories to serve subpoenas and collect evidence that can be used by China to target and punish Tibetan refugees in Nepal. Now, China wants to sign an extradition treaty with Nepal in order to nab the dissidents in more effective ways.

Given Prime Minister Dahal's ideological and personal bond with the communist leadership in Beijing, he could be inclined to signing this treaty. For long now, the successive dispensations in Kathmandu have already been under China's influence to harass the Tibetans living in Nepal. Since 1990, Nepal has refused to recognize Tibetans crossing the border illegally into Nepal as refugees. It does not issue them identity cards.

Since 2008, Nepal has signed several intelligence-sharing agreements with China. It has operationalized border security cooperation, partially enforced a ban on Tibetan public demonstrations, and deployed armed police in Tibetan neighbourhoods on politically sensitive dates.

Today, Nepal is observing strict surveillance over Tibetan refugees. It has imposed restrictions on their assembly and free expression of speech. The Tibetans in Nepal suffer from a lack of access to basic rights such as education and employment.

The observers say it would be highly detrimental to the cause of Tibetan freedom and democracy if Kathmandu signed an extradition treaty with Beijing during Prime Minister Dahal's possible upcoming trip to China. The United States, the leader of the free world, India, the planet's most populous democracy, and allies must reach out to the Nepalese leadership and prevent it from green-signalling any extradition treaty with China.

The United States can play a crucial role here. Washington has its own influence in Kathmandu. Ever since diplomatic relationship was established between them in April 1947, US-Nepal cooperation has expanded in various sectors. The two nations entered into the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in April 2011. The total bilateral trade amount to about $300 million.

In 2021, when Nepal was confronted with the pandemic, the US made crucial exports, such as vaccines and face masks, in significant amounts. The US has been one of the highest donors in Nepal. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) supports a wide area in infrastructure development and reconstruction.

The United States has promoted people-to-people relations with Nepal. Many US organizations have been working in Nepal for this. Today the Peace crops has over 3800 volunteers in Nepal. Lincoln school has been teaching (foreign and) Nepali students.

In the process, there has been a significant rise in the Nepali population in the US. The US universities and colleges have become one of the major destinations for Nepali students for higher studies. Nepali civil society leaders have been able to conduct study tours of democratic institutions in the United States. The US is one of the largest sources of visitors in Nepal.

Washington could use all such resources to make Kathmandu see that history is on the side of the democratic, progressive forces the world over today. It could convince Kathmandu that the latter must not do anything that would be detrimental to the cause of democracy the Tibetans have been advocating in Nepal.

To make Washington move forward in this direction, New Delhi might suggest to it to send to Kathmandu some top-most level dignitary for an appropriate dialogue with Prime Minister Dahal and other top leaders there.

(Jagdish N. Singh is a senior journalist based in New Delhi. He is also Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, New York)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of OneIndia and OneIndia does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.