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The Great Kathmandu Tandoori Restaurant Nepalese & Indian 140 Burton Road, West Didsbury, Manchester :: Forums :: Nepal :: Information n		<< Previous thread \| Next thread >>
Nepal-Britain Relations: Brief Overview


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Buda

Fri Apr 07 2006, 12:05PM

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Joined: Wed Apr 05 2006, 01:36PM
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I. Background: In its two hundred years of history of Nepal – Britain relations, Nepal has always enjoyed warm and cordial ties with the United Kingdom marked by goodwill, mutual understanding, and respect for each other’s aspirations. The warm relations between the two Royal Households, the exchange of visits at high levels, and the century-old long Gurkha connection have further consolidated the bond of relations between the two countries. Some important dates from the pages of history in the annals of Nepal-Britain relations:

Treaty of Sugauli (1816) provided for the exchange of accredited Ministers to each other’s Court.
The Treaty of Friendship between Nepal and Great Britain signed in 1923 upgraded the status of the British representative in Kathmandu as an Envoy.
In 1934, Nepal established a legation in London and the two countries exchanged Ministers Plenipotentiary and Envoys Extraordinary.
In 1947, the status of these representatives acquired the full level of Ambassadors Extraordinary and the Plenipotentiary.

II. Exchange of Visit: Nepal’s Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Kunwar was the first Nepalese dignitary to visit the UK in 1852, also the first ever overseas visit by any Nepali. During the Rana rule, Prime Minister Chandra Sumsher Rana visited London in 1908. King George V paid a visit to Nepal Terai in a hunting mission in 1910. Subsequent periods have seen important visits from both the countries at the Royalties’ levels and other high levels. His Majesty late King Mahendra paid a state visit to UK in October 1960. His Majesty late King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev paid a state visit to UK in 1980 and also visited to London in 1995 to attend the 50^th years anniversary of the end of the World War II. When Crown Prince, King Birendra studied in Eton. His Majesty late King Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev, who was also an Eton graduate, paid an official visit to UK in 1997. From the British side, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had paid a state visit to Nepal to 1960 and 1986. HRH Prince Charles paid an official visit to Nepal in 1975 and in 1998. Diana, the Princess of Wales visited Nepal in 1993. HRH Princess Anne, the Princess Royal paid an official visit to Nepal in November 2000, the same month HRH Prince Philips also visited to Nepal to attend the meeting of WWF. At the political level also, there have been important visits from the both sides. Nepal’s Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba paid an official visit to UK in 1996 and 2002. Earlier, late Prime Minister Man Mohan Adhikari visited to London in 1995 while Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai made a brief visit to London in 1999.Nepal’s Parliamentary delegations led by Speaker of the House of Representatives Daman Nath Dhungana and Tara Nath Rana Bhat visited to UK in 1993 and 1999 respectively. From the British side, Madame Speaker Betty Boothroyd led a British IPU delegation to Nepal in 1994. Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and former Foreign Minister Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani visited to London in 1995 while Foreign Minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat came to London in 1999 as a guest speaker at the Wilton Park conference. Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Mrs Chitra Lekha Yadav came to the UK in a study tour in May 2000.Leader of the main opposition party at the House of Representatives and the General Secreatary of CPN(UML) Madhav Kumar Nepal made a week-long visit of the United Kingdom in the last week of January 2002 at the invitation of the British government. During the same time, a Nepalese parliamentary delegation led by the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives Shubash Chandra Nembang visited the United Kingdom. British Secretary for International Development Clare short was the first senior government minister to visit Nepal in 1998 after the Labour Party came to power in UK in 1997. British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Robin Cook paid an official visit to Nepal in April 2000. This was the first ever official visit by a British Foreign Secretary to Nepal. More recently, British Defence Secretary Geoffrey Hoon made an official visit to Nepal in December 2000. These visits have provided important opportunity to share views on matters of mutual interests, and have significantly contributed to consolidate the bilateral ties. Recent visits: British Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth affairs Ben Bradshaw visited Nepal in February 2002 followed by the visit of British Minster of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Mike O' Brien in October 2002. On both the occasions, the British Ministers reiterated the UK government's strong support for democracy and development in Nepal and to assist HMG to solve the Maoist problem. Most recently, Sir Michael Jay, Permanent Undersecretary of State of the Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs visited to Nepal and held wide ranging meetings which were focused mainly on the security situation and Maoist problem. The UK has made important contribution to coordinate international efforts to help resolve the Maoist problem in Nepal, largely through the International Support Group. This body was formed as a result of the international conference hosted by the UK government in London in June 2002. III. Development Cooperation: The United Kingdom is one of the key partners in Nepal’s development efforts. The British Government has been extending valuable cooperation to Nepal in many areas ranging from infrastructure development, agriculture, forestry, rural development, health, and education to the strengthening of the democratic institutions. As eradication of poverty has assumed significant prominence in the UK Government’s development cooperation policy outlook in recent years, the British assistance to Nepal have also increasingly been focused on poverty alleviation projects and programmes. This is illustrated by the establishment of the DFID Country Office in Nepal in 1999 and a new DFID country strategy paper which puts emphasis on good governance, human development, empowerment to the rural people and physical assess to the rural areas. The DFID programmes in Nepal reached to the tune of £22 million in 2002 including the project aid and technical cooperation. Besides annual normal bilateral development programmes, the UK government has pledged a package of £6.7 million under the Global Conflict Prevention Pool. Projects funded from this pool are aimed at short-term development and reinforcing Nepal's development, military and police capacity. Besides the official development assistance (ODA), which has seen steady rise over the years, the technical cooperation agreement was signed in 1994 to strengthen the traditional cooperation between Nepal and the United Kingdom. The agreement provides for the roles and the responsibilities regarding the British technical cooperation and the British Council activities. The British Government has also been providing scholarships to Nepal in different subjects since 1950s. Similarly, British volunteers are engaged in various development works since 1964 under the British Volunteer Programme. These programmes have contributed to Nepal’s need for specialized and trained manpower and also have developed important links between the people of the two countries. IV. Business and Commercial Relations: The United Kingdom occupies among the top ten countries in Nepal’s bilateral trade. In terms of Nepal’s exports, Britain gained the sixth position in 1999 while in terms of Nepal’s total imports, the UK occupies the tenth largest position. While the volume of bilateral trade has seen steady rise, the balance of trade is in favour of the United Kingdom. Readymade garments and hand woven pashmina shawls constituted the major components contributing almost 65 percent of Nepal’s total export to UK in 1999. Their export reached to the tune of Rs 233 million in 1999 contributing a significant boost in Nepal’s export to UK.                                     Volume of Nepal’s Bilateral Trade
                                          with the United Kingdom
                                          1994 - 2000 (in Rs. Million)

Year	Exports	Imports
1994/95	330.5	825.0
1996	289.4	1024.3
1997	297.7	3147.0
1998	318.6	1312.6
1999	5218.2	1639.5
2000	11924.38	14625.21

The export of Woollen carpets also witnessed significant boost in 1999, which surged to 188 million from 86 million in the previous years making the UK the sixth largest importing country for the Nepalese carpets.With a view to promoting the British wool for the Nepalese carpets, British Trade International (BTI) organised a visit of a Nepalese Wool Mission to UK in January 2000. The Wool mission had also the objective to promote the Nepalese carpets in the UK market. As a follow up, Nepal participated in the Harrogate Carpet Fair held in September that year. The British Gurkhas: The British Gurkha constitutes an important element in Nepal - Britain relations. The Nepalese nationals in the Brigade of Gurkhas are currently enlisted under the Tripartite Agreement between the Governments of Nepal, India and the United Kingdom. The Brigade of Gurkhas is a fully integrated part of the British Armed Forces. The Gurkhas' service in the British army officially started on 24 April 1815. In its two hundred years of history, the British Gurkhas have served to the British army with great valour and dedication. In recognition of their distinguished service, the British Gurkhas servicemen from Nepal have won 13 Victoria crosses, the highest British gallantry honour. After the independence of India in 1947, six Gurkha regiments were allocated to the Indian Army while remaining four Gurkha regiments were allocated to the British Army. After the Hong Kong handover to China and the overall reduction in the strength of British armed forces, the number of British Gurkhas was also gradually reduced from 8000 in 1997 to approximately 3,500 at present. Pensions and other Benefits: As result of the examination of the Gurkha pensions and Gratuities carried out by a Working Group chaired by British Armed Forces Minister John Speller, substantial increase have been made in the pensions of the retired British Gurkha servicemen that came into effect from 1 April 2000. Earlier in October 1999, the British Government brought the gratuities to the families of the Gurkha soldiers killed in service, broadly in line with their British counterparts. These decisions have been widely welcomed by HMG and the ex-British Gurkhas in Nepal. The Gurkha Welfare Trust The Gurkha Welfare Trust was established in 1969 for the welfare of the Gurkhas and their dependents. As a part of the Gurkha Welfare Fund, it enjoys the patronage of HRH The Prince of Wales. The Trust's remit is to provide medical, financial and community aid to Gurkhas and their families when they leave the British Army. The Welfare fund, is generated by a contribution by every serving officer and soldier in the regiment of one day's pay a year. The field arm of the Trust operates 23


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