Dr Upreti, in his book, reminds the readers of the many flawed and unequal treaties reached between Nepal and India in the past, and points out that they are detrimental to the country’s interests to a large extent. The book especially stresses the 1950 Peace and Friendship Treaty and other treaties like on Koshi, Mahakali and Gandaki and demands “changes in Indian foreign policy” in a bid to revise such pacts.
The writer criticizes the 1954 Koshi Treaty that binds Nepal to provide the Koshi Barrage site on lease for 199 years, arguing that it is an irony the country entered into such an agreement with India to lease out such a huge territory for so long when technically the life of the barrage is only 50 years.
Therefore, he suggests if bilateral negotiations at the higher level have failed to reverse the situation, or if India is intransient, other means of dispute resolution as envisaged in the Charter of the United Nations should be activated.The book also tries to reveal inundation problems in large swathes of several border districts of the country during the rainy season, owing to intolerable and illegitimate construction of numerous structures – including high dams – by the southern neighbor along the Indo-Nepal border.
“Nepal was neither informed by India about its intention to construct these structures nor has it sought Nepal’s consent, pursuant to the provisions of international law, which has been strictly applied by India for itself,” reads a section of the book.
Citing glaring examples of national prosperity by hydropower development in countries like Norway, Canada, Bolivia, Brazil, Laos, and Bhutan, the book says, “over-politicization of the matter and dispensation of false dreams to the poverty-stricken people” has been hindering the populace of this country to emancipate from the age-old poverty despite being endowed with ample water resources.
Following King Prithvi Narayan Shah maintaining Nepal’s foreign policy as “a yam between two boulders,” the writer says nothing substantive has been ventured by the successive rulers to amending, modernizing and reevaluating this policy. Rather, the rulers have misinterpreted this policy to serve their interests, ignoring the changing world and the reality prevalent in South Asia.
“By adopting the policy of non-alignment and the principle of Panchasheel as the bases of our foreign policy, we have immensely contributed to the stability and prosperity of these two Asian giants. In return, what we have gained are a few billion Rupees in the form of assistance,” states the book. The writer opines that our geopolitical reality should be taken by us as strength and not weakness in order to hold negotiations with our neighbors to safeguard our greater interests.
With regard to global warming, the writer blames developed countries as their prosperity is based on industrial revolution, scientific discoveries, innovation and its uses – major contributors to heating the earth.
“The poorest countries and the most vulnerable citizens will suffer the most damaging setback at the earliest even though they have contributed least to the problem,” the book mentions.
Painting gruesome pictures ahead due to adverse effects of global warming, the writer further says, the low-lying island nations will be submerged under the sea, the phenomena of drought, unnatural and uneven rain will cause immense floods, inviting a situation of famine, warning Nepal remains the sixth most vulnerable country among the community of 200 nations to the risk of global warming.
While the glacier lake bursting in the early 90s in Solukhumbu has caused great damages to the lives and properties, the book warns that 20 other Ice Lakes, including Thulagi, Lake of Manang, Tso Rolpa and Imja can burst any time.
On human rights, the book mentions Nepal of becoming a center of international concerns as far as gross human rights violation is concerned due to the fostering of impunity. The writer argues that such a situation has been deliberately inviting foreign interventions.
“Foreigners are interfering in our domestic affairs in the name of human rights by crossing their own norms, values and diplomatic discipline,” the book narrates. He argues that while the country has witnessed several political upheavals time and again, there are chances of curtailing individual rights for the broader interests of the state and larger sections of the people.
Himself being a Secretary of the government, Dr Upreti, through his long bureaucratic knowledge and experience, points to an urgent need of change in the overall bureaucratic structure of the nation. He justifies it by saying “bureaucracy and its structure remains a ghost of past governments dating back to the Rana regime.”
He further narrates that the country’s political arena and bureaucracy have been marred by nepotism and sycophancy.
“Ministers are fighting to award positions to their henchmen with total disregard for
the talents and seniority of qualified and deserving candidates. This tendency is widespread at other levels of bureaucracy too,” reads the book.
Dr Upreti, pointing to a need for radical change in the judiciary, states, as per the basic concept of the separation of powers and its check and balance, the legislature, executive and judiciary should not interfere in the jurisdiction of one another by terming it an act of jurisprudence.
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