Like the picture of the mouse, dog and cat. Guess India is the dog? It looks more threatening.

Due to the constant change in Nepali politics, I am not that familiar with the key players.  However, living in the States for more than 10 years and being very close to DC I have seen so many ambassadors come and go.  While I was reading this article by Mr. Thapa, I agreed with him in many points.  Nepal has to send representatives who have some credibitlity and who are competent for the job - not just on the basis of their connection/political affiliation.  Personally, I think it is a well-written article and there is a lot to learn from it. 

I did enjoy reading Sanjay's comments.  Thanks for posting it because reading this article, I was really impressed by Mr. Thapa and his views but then if he was unable to show a significant different while he was holding such important positions then I don't know what to think about him.  If Sanjay is right about Mr. Thapa, then it's sad because even the educated ones who have had the opportunity to make a difference are not thinking about the national interest.

(Pardon the rambling nature of this post)

Foreign policy should be a multi-partisan affair, especially the important task of picking national representatives to foreign countries. The reason this is not possible in Nepal is because national identity has taken a back-seat in the transition from a unitary state based on monarchy to a potential federal republic (without unconditional surrender of many parties that supported the Monarchy). National Interest is constructed by the normative quality of the sense of nationhood. When a common sense of nationhood does not exist among all political actors, their other political interests will influence their decisions on matters of foreign policy (such as picking diplomats).

The constitution writing process is very important in the emergence of a coherent and contined foreign policy. It will potentially create a new nation-state meaning, not just the coercive apparatus of the state but a new national identity itself. Once the national identity becomes rigid, politicians will be bound to think in terms of the national interest. At the moment, a sense of nationhood is too fluid, too weak.

Sometimes I fear that we might be headed towards a Nepali form of warlordism where actors (from left and right) with economic and political interests end up rationalizing that their interests will not be served by the emergence of either a state of a nation. If indeed a new warlordism is emerging in Nepal, then we are in for some trouble.

A constitution writing process that cleverly distributes power among all aspects of Nepali soceity and eventual implementation is very important to create this new sense of collective national identity and prevent both outside interference and a potential rise of warlordism. A sense of nationhood created by diversity and not merely a state that patronizes diversity may lead to a strong nation-state able to form a strong foreign-policy.

There will still be constrains of geo-politics even after all the normative mess is figured out but finishing the contitution and implementing it might be a very good start to an effective foreign-policy.

The author brought up the relevant issues but there is nothing new in it. My experience of dealing with the diplomats in Nepalese missions has not changed before and after 2006. There were officials posted in diplomatic missions who were involved in passport forgery scandals in past too. I don't know about the deed of Dr. Thapa while he was in post but one thing is sure that the image of Nepal was never better during those periods. The author fell short of bringing solutions rather than complaining in this article, which everyone knew.

True is alwyas bitter, I  know that Dr. Thapa is honest and patriotic, and real diplomat,

"Chakari-pratha" was product of the Rana-Shah and Panchayat days. Dr. Thapa owes his success (to a large extent) to the mastery of that unique tradition. Chakari was not limited to the domestic rulers; when the politics of foreign aid started in Nepal, our politicians and bureaucrats of those days mastered the art of pleasing the foreigners. It became engrained in our culture. No matter how much one tries to erase those memories from public mind, truth will not change.....People like Dr.Thapa availed of the best oppurtunities to further their personal growth, not the country's. That fact will not change!!! 

The author brought up the relevant issues but there is nothing new in it. My experience of dealing with the diplomats in Nepalese missions has not changed before and after 2006.

Why parties send techinician like Dr. Shanker Sharma and likes to important countries like USA, France, UK, and many other, no one can understand. Most of the countries send either a party affiliates or carrer diplomats, but not like Murari Raj Sharma, who was promoted by late Girija from the Finance ministry, who was a con artist for Nepali diplomats and a liability to Nepal as a whole, why can't the government put him in jail?  Does it make any sense to send many people known as' man for all the season', to send roaming around the world. Hey , guyes you all follow the Indians learn from India, who sends seasoned  Raj-doots even in Nepal, forget about USA and other vital countries.

In Washington DC., they hace got a new Benz car replaced the made in USA cars, what a fame to show to the Americans, by buying German car instead of American? But look at the residencncy where all the ambassadors have lived since Rishi K. Shah, it has become a reuined old house to colapse any time.

With all the best.

This article and the comments above reminded me of Dr Novel Kishor Rai.I remember reading in NT some years ago how well he had performed as an ambassodor to Germany. He had been decorated by both the then HMG of Nepal and Govt of Germany.NT had all the praises for him as well. Interestingly he neither belonged to the elite group of Nepal nor was trained in diplomacy!

The attributes he had were  honesty and integraty,excellent communication skills,simplicity and genuine love for Nepal. He surely " begged" for his poor country(and succeeded greatly), but did that with dignity,integraty and genuine humility.

Will he be remembered? Will our elites even consider him worthy of a passing remark? I do not think so.

Thanks Thapa ji for the article. What you have written is true, but as said already nothing new. Have you ever tried to look how you grew up in the Panchayat era? Did not you become the first class civil servant directly through 'Hukum Pramangi'? That was the era when the 'blue blooded' could do anything they wanted and you were one of their proteges to grow so rapidly.

We definitely need to stand up on our own feet and leap, and not with the mercy of India and China. There is a plenty of opportunity and if you are a 'genius' why don't you propose a road map? Do you have any? If not, just shut your mouth and stop blaming others. If you blame the post-2046 leaders for such a situation, why not we open the accounts of your deeds during the pre-2046 period of 30 years? If we continue the blame game, I blame you and your patrons for bringing the country to this stage.