Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda is preparing to visit northern neighbor China in September. While the initial preparations for the visit to China are going on, both countries have not been able to pay attention to making a new 'Peace and Friendship Treaty', which China is also willing to recognize Nepal's political changes.
When Prachanda was the Prime Minister for the first time, China proposed a new Peace and Friendship Treaty with Nepal. When BP Koirala was the Prime Minister, the Chinese side proposed to replace the Peace and Friendship Treaty between Nepal and China in April 1960 with a new treaty.
A Peace and Friendship Treaty was signed between Nepal and China on April 28, 1960 during Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai's second visit to Nepal. China proposed a new treaty during Prachanda's first premiership in order to adapt some of the wording of the old treaty to suit political changes.
Chinese proposal through special envoy
Zheng Hui came to Nepal as a special envoy of the Chinese government in February 2009, when Prachanda, the chairman of the then CPN (Maoist), who became the largest party in the first Constituent Assembly election, was the prime minister. One of the objectives of Zheng's visit to Kathmandu was to propose a new peace and friendship treaty between Nepal and China.
According to the then Acting Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Suresh Pradhan, during the meeting with Prime Minister Prachanda, Special Envoy Zheng handed over the draft of the proposed treaty to Prime Minister Prachanda as a 'non-paper'.
"Among the non-paper proposals made by the Chinese leader, peace and friendship treaty was the main one, there was also a proposal for an extradition treaty," said the then Acting Secretary Pradhan, who was also a former ambassador to Germany, "After those documents handed over to us by the Chinese side, I handed them over to Foreign Secretary Gyan Chandra Acharya."
Prime Minister Prachanda visited China in the first week of August 2008 to participate in the closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympics held in Beijing. Prime Minister Prachanda was preparing for another visit to China as it was a visit related to participating in the closing ceremony of the Olympics.
During Prachanda's second visit to China as the Prime Minister, Special Envoy Zheng handed over the draft of the proposed treaties, including Peace and Friendship Treaty, Extradition Treaty, to the Prime Minister in the form of 'non-paper'. In the first week of February 2009, the Chinese side had a discussion with Foreign Secretary Gyan Chandra Acharya about the new Peace and Friendship Treaty.
Saad Yaddo, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu, also confirmed that the Chinese side proposed a new peace and friendship treaty. In a program held on March 6, 2009, spokesperson Yaddo said, "For regional peace and stability, China has proposed a Peace and Friendship Treaty to Nepal." A new treaty has also been proposed to address international changes.
However, the work of replacing the old peace and friendship treaty with a new one could not be done at that time. It has not happened yet, either.
The difference between the old treaty and the 'new'
It was mentioned in the preamble of the treaty signed by BP and Zhou Enlai that the peace and friendship treaty was signed "to promote good relations and friendly cooperation between the People's Republic of China and the Kingdom of Nepal, to strengthen the fundamental interests of the people of the two countries, and to strengthen peace in Asia and the world."
In the first clause of the five-clause treaty, it was mentioned that both countries would accept and respect each other's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, while in the second clause, it was mentioned that peace and friendship between the two countries would be maintained and developed.
According to the principles of equality and mutual interest and non-interference in each other's internal affairs, the third section provided for the development and strengthening of economic and cultural relations between the two countries with a spirit of friendship and cooperation.
In the fourth clause, it was mentioned that mutual differences should be resolved through discussion. The fifth clause mentioned how the treaty was to be ratified.
According to experts, there were no new proposals in the new treaty proposed by China. As the monarchy was overthrown and the republic was established, China proposed a new treaty only to recognize that political change. China, which had a close relationship with the palace during the monarchy, proposed a new treaty to recognize Nepal's political changes in particular.
"In the old treaty, terms like 'Nepal Adhirajya' and 'Shri 5 Maharajdhiraj' were used," says a diplomatic officer.
However, after China proposed a new treaty, Nepal's political situation started to develop in a new way. Disputes between the government and the army chief began to appear. After the conflict between the government and the army increased, on May 3, 2009, Prime Minister Prachanda dismissed the Chief of Army Staff Rookmangud Katawal.
After that, Prachanda also stepped down from the post of Prime Minister, due to which the plan to replace the old treaty with a new Peace and Friendship Treaty could not materialize.
According to experts, since China proposed it in 2009, if the proposal is to be made on behalf of Nepal this time, there is a situation where China can agree to the new treaty even now. However, due to various geopolitical entanglements, the possibility of Nepal proposing a peace and friendship treaty in a situation where even the project related to 'BRI' has not progressed is slim.
