M.R. Josse

Nepali Correspondent M.R. Josse recounts his travels to Washington DC and meetings to talk about the current state of Nepal and its place in the world.

The quaint world of SPAM 'loktantrik' governance was put on Full Monty last week for all and sundry to marvel at.

If ever proof were required to demonstrate how sloppily the brave new world of SPAM governance is operating merely recall the tragi-comedy of the developments of the past week.

It is a crying shame that B.P. Koirala's sage, visionary insights into matters political are being ignored if not brusquely cast aside, paradoxically even by his own party and brother Prime Minister, Girija Prasad Koirala.

Are the much-heralded peace negotiations between the SPA, led by Prime Minister Koirala, and the Maoists, steered by Prachanda, headed South - despite five rounds of high visibility talks at the apex level...

In a revealing insight into Nepal's surreal political atmosphere, the bizarre spectacle of a bloodless military coup d'etat in Thailand was taken calmly in Bangkok but generated an angry fury in Kathmandu.

Minister Hridesh Tripathy of the Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Anandi) was in an understandably exultant mood the other day...

There is simply no mistaking the ominous signs on the political horizon: in Hollywood terms, a 'perfect storm' looms menacingly ahead.

Earlier this week it was announced that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had appointed Ian Martin as his personal representative in Nepal for support of the peace process

Last Wednesday, American Ambassador James F Moriarty speaking at a public forum in Kathmandu, fired a political missile whose fallout is yet to be fully assessed.

There was understandable hoopla generated by the first round of formal talks last Friday between the SPA government and the Maoists, wherein a 25-point code of conduct was agreed upon.

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher outlined the cardinal features of America's Nepal policy in the current situation.

For many, Nepal is synonymous with the Himalayas. While that probably constitutes the best enticement for the foreign visitor, her uncomfortable location between India and China is no less striking.

In the din and mayhem of the continuing violent protests in Kathmandu as elsewhere - ostensibly spearheaded by the SPA but, in reality, driven by the Maoists their new comrades-in-arms...

Bizarre happenings are taking place in the SPAM world - one half composed of a seven-party conglomeration led by the political Gods who failed democracy and the other of foreign-inspired revolutionaries who have launched a bloody ten year-plus war a

Days after American President George W Bush departed India and a week before the Hindu festival of Holi, three bombs took a toll of 23 human lives and left 68 injured in Varanasi.

Clearly, the political ground beneath the SPA's feet has begun to tremble. The tremor, as you might have guessed, began with US Ambassador Moriarty's belated assault on the 12-point SPAM pact...

Dear President Bush, I write this even as you are, so to speak, packing your bags for your 'historic' visit to India and Pakistan in the near future.

Maoist supremo Prachanda revealed something of his mind in an exclusive interview to Kathmandu Post/Kantipur dailies published significantly enough on 7 February, a day before the municipal polls...

Any way one assesses the flying visit of Admiral Fallon, there is simply no escaping its multi-faceted fallout.