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Kathmandu: Nepal has requested Russia not to recruit Nepali youths in the Russian Army.

Nepal’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Prakash Saud made this request in the meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Vershinin, on the margins of the 19th NAM Summit that took place in Uganda.

A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs says: "Foreign minister raised the issues related to Nepali nationals in the Russian Army, including the request not to recruit Nepali nationals, release those who are already recruited, repatriation of mortal remains of the deceased and compensation.”

The Russian deputy minister stated that efforts will be made to resolve the issues raised by the Nepali side.  There are no bilateral provisions on recruitment in the Russian forces, but reports suggest that Nepalis are serving alongside the Russians and fighters from several other countries lured by certain ‘incentives’.

Moscow has not responded to Nepal’s repeated requests for information about the Nepalis in the Russian army, though the government has said that hundreds of Nepalis have been serving the Russians, more than 100 have gone missing and 11 Nepalis have died in the war so far.

According to Saud, 115 families of Nepali youths, who have joined the Russian army, have submitted a request to the ministry calling for their early repatriation. We have asked Russia to repatriate the Nepalis serving its army and compensate the families of those killed in action, he said.

Nepal has reasserted its commitment to Non-Alignment Movement’s (NAM) objectives and principles at the Ministerial Meeting of the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement being held in Kampala, Uganda. Addressing the meeting, Foreign Minister NP Saud said the constitution of Nepal itself embraces NAM principles as a basis for its foreign policy.

“We always conduct independent, objective, balanced, and non-aligned foreign policy. We never join any military alliance and never accept to be a part of the security pact of any country,” he said, hinting at the security and strategic pacts of major powers mainly of China and the US.

Over the past few years, there has been a debate in Kathmandu about America’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and State Partnership Program, and China’s Global Security Initiatives. Minister Saud’s statement is in line with Nepal’s commitment to not joining any strategic or military alliances. 

Of late, countries in the Global South, including Nepal, are facing increasing pressure from big powers, mainly the US and China, to choose their sides. Most of the time, they have stayed out of the great-power rivalry.  

The NAM summit is taking place at a time when the world is confronting multiple challenges, from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war to escalating tensions in the Middle East and China-Taiwan dispute.  

“We are witnessing the worst nightmare in Gaza. We all have been bearing the brunt of the Russia-Ukraine war. To our dismay, geopolitical competition and polarization have resurfaced as defining features of our global political order,” said Saud. He stressed that NAM principles have become more significant than ever.  

Over the past few months, there is a growing debate in Nepal about the revision of non-alignment policy. Some politicians and experts are of the view that in the changing context, the principle of non-alignment is becoming irrelevant. Some have proposed the policy of multi-alignment without elaborating what it entails.

Many of them provide the example of India, which is sending a low-key representation to the NAM summit. But the current government led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has reasserted the importance of non-alignment policy. Dahal himself is attending the conference to demonstrate Nepal’s commitment.

Minister Saud said that NAM, as a strong bloc with 120 countries representing around 60 percent of the world’s population, holds “both majority and moral strengths to devise solutions to global problems that we face today, from conflicts to climate change; economic injustice to social inequality; the digital divide to debt distress, and hunger to disease.”

“NAM must play a pivotal role in promoting multilateralism, defending the UN Charter and international law, finding peaceful solutions to disputes, reforming the global financial architectures, creating a just global economic order for shared affluence,” he added.

Saud also said that NAM should focus on the achievement of SDGs and other Internationally Agreed Development Goals, including the Paris Agreement, in the spirit of leaving no one behind, embracing the power of technology to drive progress for all, and ensuring climate justice for vulnerable countries and regions. 

“We anticipate a robust cooperation framework and renewed partnership with all our development partners and fellow members of NAM, for investment, resources, capacity-building, and technologies in the true spirit of North-South, South-South, and Triangular Cooperation,” he said. 

Nepal is a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, which was formally established at a summit held on 1-6 Sept 1961 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. 

Former Indian Army Chief Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane has said that China is following “wolf-warrior diplomacy” and “salami-slicing” tactics with impunity browbeating smaller neighbors.  In his memoirs ‘Four Stars of Destiny’, Naravane,  He further stated that it took the Indian Army to show to the world that “enough is enough” and challenge the “neighborhood bully”. 

“They had been following wolf-warrior diplomacy and salami-slicing tactics everywhere with impunity, browbeating smaller neighbors like Nepal and Bhutan, while staking their ever-increasing claims in the South China Sea, without having to pay any costs, especially in terms of human lives.” 

It took India and the Indian Army to show to the world that enough is enough and to challenge the neighborhood bully, he said.  Naravane, one of the foremost Army Generals, provided a gripping account of the India-China confrontation before and after the deadly Galwan Valley incident, India’s overall response to the Chinese action and how it served as a catalyst to firm up the Army’s combat readiness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry is visiting Nepal on Dec 20-22 to attend the inaugural session of the Nepal-Sri Lanka Joint Commission. 

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the commission will focus on a wide range of areas of bilateral cooperation between Sri Lanka and Nepal, including trade and investment, tourism, education, defense, culture, connectivity and people-to-people contacts. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation will also be signed during the visit. On the sidelines, Foreign Minister Sabry is scheduled to have bilateral talks with his Nepali counterpart Narayan Prakash Saud. He will pay courtesy calls on President Ram Chandra Paudel and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, apart from meeting the Sri Lankan expatriate community.