KATHMANDU, Sept 22: Officiating Prime Minister Bijaya Gachchhadar said Tuesday that the military has to work under the security policies formulated by the civilian government and it is the civilian side that defines the security threat facing a country. [break]
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of a two-day seminar on “Developing Civil-Military Relations in the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal,” organized by the Army Command and Staff College under the Director General of Military Training (DGMT), he said that the seminar is "an opportunity to share the differences and resolve misunderstandings" that have emerged between the military and the government lately. Stating that the future role of the NA will be a "multi-dimensional" one, he said, "We must define a common ideology for the national interest and accordingly formulate national policies and national values."
Chief of Army Staff General Chhatraman Singh Gurung, addressing the gathering, said it is because of the lack of a “common theme” that there has been “misunderstanding” and “competition” between the military on one hand and society and the civilian authorities on the other. General Gurung said, “Effective and coherent national defense requires social, political and military harmony,” adding, “The military must be a professional organization that protects the vital interests as defined by the people.”
Stating that the concept of civil-military relations evolves to strengthen democracy, he said, “A country´s national security system must strike a balance between the mechanism adopted to retain civilian control over the military and the scope of professional autonomy rendered to the military.” He, however, added that these must be “explicitly laid down in fundamental laws.”
The seminar, he said, must come up with a common theme to develop new “understanding, structures and mechanisms” to promote civilian control over the military and enhance military professionalism. He also added that the military can be guided by statesmen but must remain “free of politicization and undue interference in routine affairs.” Stating that the Nepal Army (NA) is open to constructive criticism and that no military body can work in isolation, he said the NA derives strength from other societal agencies.
Highlighting the aims of the seminar, Brigadier General Narendra Bahadur Rawal said the seminar has been organized around a most contextual topic with the objective of “contributing and developing a better military-civilian relation” and “to express NA´s allegiance to democratic values and norms.”
The seminar held at NA Headquarters focused on two themes: enhancement of professionalism in the NA and its institutional requirement and democratization of the NA. Two papers were presented by (Retd) Lt Gen Balananda Sharma and Dr Saubhagya Shah, a security analyst, around the respective themes and the seminar was participated by academicians, mediapersons, experts and government and political party representatives.
Sharma, in his presentation, said that the NA leadership "must correct" the harm that was done to civil-military relations in the past. He said the NA must maintain the command structure of the institution. He pointed to the "state of confusion" among lower ranks in the army. Shah, on the other hand, pointed at three components of civil-military relations: political, military and sovereign. He said that those exercising sovereign powers have not been able to create a linkage between the political and the military.
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