Kathmandu, December 13, 2005

The visiting Tibetan delegation led by Xiang Ba Ping Cuo has promised to “look into the issues involved” in the travel trade sector and see to it that the Nepali trade operators get to sell Tibet to the outside world. This is expected to contribute to efforts aimed at helping Nepal retain its traditional status of being a “Gateway to Tibet.” The latest assurances come as a shot in the arms of travel trade firms, which have been promoting Nepal as a “Gateway to the Forbidden Land” ever since the country came into contact with the outside world after 1950s. “If what the Tibetan delegation chief has promised is duly enforced, it appears that those who are selling Tibet could enter a new phase,” said Rameswor Sapkota, who is President of the Association of Trans-Himalayan Tour Operators Nepal (ATTON). Issues which have been casting adverse impact on the Nepali travel trade operators are instances of the Tibetan side forming what is identified as Indian Pilgrimage Service Centre (IPSC). While the Tibetan delegation denied any governmental role in the launch of IPSC which eliminates Nepali travel agents when it comes to cater to the growing number of the Indian pilgrims to Tibet and Mansarovar, sources insist that “this is where the Tibetan delegation has not been honest with Nepal.”

Clause on letting in foreign army not acceptable: Lama

Kathmandu, December 13, 2005

The 12-point parties-Maoist pact has some merit, but the clause that talks about letting foreign army enter the country is simply objectionable, the Minister of State for Health and Population, Mani Lama, said today. “We should always object any pact which challenges Nepal’s sovereignty and national security,” Lama said at a programme organised at the Media Group here today. The pact is positive, too, as the Maoists have agreed to accept constitutional monarchy and multiparty democracy, he said. “Any agreement reached with the objective of bringing about long-lasting peace is praiseworthy,” he said, adding: “It does not matter where it (the agreement) was signed.” “Those who try to disturb the forthcoming municipal elections are supporting the Maoists in their mission,” he said. The Assistant Minister of Education and Sports, Bhuwan Pathak, said that the government was neither thinking about declaring a ceasefire nor was it going to form a team to hold talks with the Maoists. “Since the government never launched any ‘war’, there is no need for it to declare a ceasefire. We don’t fell the need to form a talks team as the Maoists have never met us and told us they want to hold talks with the government.” Earlier, Narayan Singh Pun, the Minister of Land Reforms and Management, had said that the government was forming a team to initiate talks with the Maoists.