Addressing a function organized jointly by the Center of South Asian Studies and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in the capital on Thursday, they also suggested the leadership to be very serious about protecting national interests of the country as it faces the biggest challenge ever. [break]
Nepal´s former permanent representative and ambassador to the United Nations Jaya Raj Acharya said national interests consists of protection of sovereignty, national independence and territorial integrity, promotion of social and economic development of the country and resistance against foreign interferences. “But is high time we review how much we have been able to resist foreign interference in our case,” he said.
Likewise, former ambassador of Nepal to Geneva Dr Sambhu Ram Simkhada argued foreign “interference” could become foreign assistance if managed properly. “Foreign interference in our country is the consequence of our failure to manage our foreign relations properly,” he said.
At the function, editor-in-chief of Kantipur Daily Sudheer Sharma and editor-in-chief of The Kathmandu Post Akhilesh Upadhyay jointly released the book Nepal´s National Interests II. The book deals with opinions on secularism, free and responsible media and foreign employment penned by 14 different authors.
Speaking on the occasion, Sharma said media in Nepal had been doing its best to protect and promote national interests. “I personally feel that efforts in this regard on the part of intelligentsia and academicians is somehow less,” he said, adding that political leadership had failed to recognize core issues of Nepal´s national interests.
Similarly, Upadhyay argued that emergence of great powers on both sides of Nepal´s border had only created a sense of greater insecurity to Nepal. He added that the country´s national security issues had become challenging for Nepal. He emphasized the need for a prudent foreign policy.
Director of Regional Program SAARC and the Acting Resident Representative of the India Office at the KAS and CSAS Director Nischal N Pandey, who co-edited the book, hoped that the book would help make politicians, policy makers and all others aware of national interests and eventually help promote Nepal´s national interests.
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