Former attorney-general  Yuvaraj Sangraula is an expert on international law. Known for his no-nonsense stance on the issue of nationalism, Sangraula is quite critical of the India-sponsored covert blockade. Online Khabar  caught up with him to talk about the blockade and its consequences. Excerpts from the interview:

The Indian blockade has thrown national life out of gear. How can Nepal deal with this situation?

First and foremost, political leaders should revisit the past. They should swear that they will not meet foreigners flouting the diplomatic code of conduct. They should stop dreaming about making their presence felt with foreign assistance.

This situation has arisen because leaders did what King Prithvi Narayan Shah, Bhimsen Thapa and Rana ruler Janga Bahadur Rana had told noblemen not to do.

Bear in mind that we are not living in the 1990’s.  And we have left 1765 far behind. We are living in modern Nepal. We have technology, population and education. Based on these factors, we can surely emerge as a strong nation. All we have to do is make the national economy self-reliant.

After relying solely on India for essentials like salt and cooking gas, we have learnt hard lessons. Now, we have to develop our economy by utilising our resources.

But this will take time. Until we achieve this, we will have to maintain parallel trade ties with China and India. We should bring goods from both countries. Only equidistant relations with our two neighbours will increase our bargaining power because we will have alternatives.  In such a situation, India will think long and hard before imposing a blockade. India is behaving bad just because it knows we have no alternative supply line.

Our political parties are also to blame for this pass. They promised that the new constitution will give them everything. We have been saying that federalism will ruin the country. This is proving true.  Rather than creating more provinces, we should do away with federalism by convincing people.  Otherwise, national development will suffer another setback.

Moreover, Nepali intellectuals should stop heading abroad.  They should stay in the country and expedite nation-building efforts. Instead of delivering sermons from abroad, intellectuals should return home and join hands aimed at nation-building. Political parties have become a total failure and the country is looking for a new political force. Time will give birth to a new force if the parties fail to transform themselves.

These are long-term issues. What can we in the short term to resolve the crisis? There’s a shortage of essentials like oil, gas and salt in the market? How can we deal with this situation?

Working together with China is the only alternative. We should send a proposal to this effect to China without delay. What quantum of oil and gas can China supply us in a week? Let’s make a list.  And we need to ask China what adjustment China can work out in terms of price.

India will relent once we approach China because Nepal is a highly profitable market for India and it does not want to lose it. But we should bring goods from both countries. That we decide by comparing prices. We can distribute goods brought from China in the northern regions and goods brought from India in southern parts. We will have an alternative supply line ready in the event of obstruction in supply of goods. The crisis has arisen because we have no alternative supply line.

The government should establish a petrol (fuel) depot in Panchkhal without delay. It should bring petroleum products from China and store them there. It should set up a gas depot in the same place. Instead of becoming sad and losing hope, Nepalis should learn lessons from this blockade.