This piece, centered on novel ways for Nepal to promote itself worldwide, is about a provocation that might be easily dismissed by pundits and the public opinion of the country. But before getting to the central message of this piece, allow me an “excursion”.
At the end of October last year, far away from the Himalayas, in the deep of the South Pacific, an important international gathering occurred. There, a high number of emerging and developing nations, successfully pressed for stronger climate action specifically aimed at protecting the oceans. Though symbolic, it was an important occasion to lobby the international community about the imperative of safeguarding seas from the threats of global warming.
Considering the vast differences between the Himalayas and the South Pacific region where that event was held, government officials, intellectuals and climate activists alike in Nepal might have neglected the convening. Yet establishing South- South cooperation among nations from different ecosystems that are equally imperiled by climate warming could make sense.
For a country like Nepal, such a partnership could offer a new channel to express its outrage about the inability of the international community to seriously tackle the climate threat. Expanding Nepal’s horizons by cementing new relationships with like-minded nations from the so- called Global South, could potentially benefit the country. Not only Nepal could join hands to protest with other peers severely affected by climate warming but, together with them, it could find stronger allies in the international negotiations.
That October, the final outcome of the gathering was the Apia Commonwealth Ocean Declaration for One Resilient Common Future. At the time, the 56 heads of state and governments from the Commonwealth gathered for the first time ever in the South Pacific, in the tiny Apia, capital of the small developing island nation of Samoa. For Samoa and the whole region, one of the most remote geographical regions on the planet, it was a milestone. It was an opportunity for the international community to focus, even if for a short span of time, on the life threatening challenges posed by sea level rise caused by climate change.
The Commonwealth is certainly not the most powerful international organization in the world. Its relevance has been often cast in doubt and sometimes even scoffed at. The members of this group shared a common and painful heritage of being, once, part of the British Empire. Even the most “Anglo-Saxon” of its members, Australia and Canada, had their native populations suffering outrageous violations. Yet the Commonwealth still represents a forum of international cooperation. Potentially the group represents one of the best examples of soft-power creation.
And with this, I am presenting my provocation, some “food for thought” for the country to consider an argument that has been traditionally set aside. Can Nepal at least contemplate if there are positive factors of becoming a member of the Commonwealth? Are there any downsides to officially express an interest in exploring the possibility of joining this community of nations? Can Nepal be an “observer”, even if informal, to the Commonwealth?
It is true that Nepal and the whole population is extremely proud of never being colonized even though the country had always maintained a unique relationship with the British realm. If you think about it, Nepal is not Ireland, a nation who fought a bloody war in the last century against the British Empire. In Dublin, thinking of the Commonwealth is really a taboo but it wasn’t so in Kigali or Maputo, capitals of two nations who were never subjugated to the British. Yet, both Rwanda and Mozambique, decided with pragmatism and foresight, to join the Commonwealth in 2009 and 1995 respectively.
Though the Commonwealth as a global institution is somehow fading, it still represents a platform for its members to strategize and forge common instances. Climate action, as we saw last year in Samoa, is one of them but not the only one. A membership to this bloc would offer Nepal access to a potential list of partner nations with whom right now Kathmandu has no cooperation at all.
And the country should feel the urge of broadening its horizons, going beyond India and China and other so called “Cooperation Partners” like the EU, Japan and Australia. When international cooperation is challenged by nationalistic and imperialistic attitudes emanating these days in Washington DC, Nepal should revamp and re-double its efforts to reach out to new potential partners.
The Commonwealth, like BIMSTEC, could offer such an opportunity. Rwanda and Mozambique have leveraged their membership to this community, including forging stronger trade and economic opportunities. Even without a formal trading agreement among its members, there is evidence that Rwanda’s economy could benefit from its association with the Commonwealth.
Nepal should look at the potential advantages of a Commonwealth membership and should undertake such review with extreme pragmatism and without any hits of ideology and dogmatism.
After all, with the self-inflicting Brexit the UK is a diminished power which is actually more in need of the Commonwealth than some of its other members. Do you think that the international prestige of India or Malaysia or South Africa, all members of the Commonwealth and former British colonies, is reduced because of their affiliation to the Commonwealth? The Commonwealth is just a forum for them to seek new partnership and grow their own prosperity.
For example, the community offers a space to draw common strategies in an area like AI, where Nepal is desperately lagging behind. In addition, let’s not forget that Nepal could greatly support the Commonwealth as well. Kathmandu could, for example, advance the promotion of democracy in this group whose charter “expresses the commitment of member states to the development of free and democratic societies and the promotion of peace and prosperity to improve the lives of all its people”.
The next Commonwealth Summit, officially the 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting will be in St John’s, the capital of Antigua and Barbuda, in the West Indies region. There is enough time for Nepal to consider the advantages and pitfalls of at least requesting to become an observer to this conclave. Perhaps, by getting closer to the Commonwealth, even the national cricket movement and, likewise, other sports of Nepal, could benefit and become stronger. And who knows, if much smaller nations did it, maybe one day Kathmandu might even host its biggest ever international summit.
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