Trilaterialism Via Tourism
Nepal budget for fiscal year 2018/19 presented by Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada proclaimed the inauguration of Visit Nepal campaign version 3.0 in 2020 with the objective of attracting 2 million foreign tourists. This declaration will not only promote tourism industry but also broaden Nepal’s prospect for international relation and particularly balancing diplomatic ties with its two giant neighbours. According to the Department of industry report, Nepal welcomed a total of 36,384 Chinese tourists from January to March this year followed by 34,133 visitors from India at same period. Amid such background can tourism function as the harbinger of cooperation by taking people to people relation as agent of change?
History books are inked with detail that how human’s tendency of mutual connectivity is clogged by national borders and how closed societies remain prone to global suspension and conflict. According to intergroup contact theory the interactions amongst members of different groups help to foster intergroup relation and reduce the feeling of otherness. Indeed, the idea that contact among diverse nationalities can help to establish broader ground for multilateral ties between nations by improving social relations. UNESCO also seems to be positive regarding this approach as it has claimed that ‘contact between members of different groups is key to ameliorate social relationship’.
All these theories and hypothesis put front a difficult question — how to bring together different nationalities in shared culture so that they can accept each other’s uniqueness? — With very simple answer: Tourism. Tourism these days has become a social force for promoting peace and understanding in our global village. As people travel across different civilizations to understand each other’s way of life and learn to assimilate amid diversity, it automatically connects individual dots to create global human network. With tourism people not just build relation, they embody it.
Over these years tourism industry has been broadly recognized as the organized agent for international cooperation and particularly the way tourism offers platform for People-to-people relation remain under global focus. The fundamental notion behind this recognition is that contact among citizens from different land offers ground for mutual relation, acceptance and understanding between foreign nationality and therefore mitigate the vibes of anti-national prejudices. Precisely, the interaction with diverse nationalities will provide chance to revisit preconceived ideas and stereotypes and in due course implant mutually positive perceptions of one another. But tourism itself neither leads to automatic cooperation nor improve bilateral relation, it just provide the opportunity and rest depend on how the nation or its citizen respond to this opportunity.
The proposition that tourism promotes tolerance and international relation is not widely accepted by all stakeholders. Though there lacks enough studies regarding the specific contexts under which tourism can endorse large scale human relation, still it’s believed as one of the crucial factor. One should admit the reality that journey towards international cooperation cannot be an isolated tourism process; it is part of a greater social transformation that begins with the culture of accepting and tolerating diversity. And tourism always functions to trigger this social transformation process from which it cannot be excluded.
In present context, maintaining a good relationship with both India and China has stood as threatening challenge for new government. On one hand China seems inclined to expand its economic and strategic influence in Nepal without disappointing southern government. On other side India hasn’t shown any direct opposition but seems upset towards Nepal’s growing proximity with dragon state. New Delhi takes the Himalayan nation as its traditional sphere of influence, and wants to restrain Chinese impact on Nepal. Therefore Indian government is constantly showing different reason to not participate in trilateral framework. Whilst left alliance dominance and Oli as governing leader, China is trying hard to build easy entrance inside Kathmandu. Such political pressure from both sides and Nepal’s inability to act diplomatically has pushed new government in vicious circle.
However, tri-lateral cooperation between India-Nepal-China is possible through tourism if Kathmandu dare to experiment with innovative approaches instead of depending on same old fashioned cliché. Government are chained by diplomatic protocols and political pressures but not the people. If enough endeavour done from people’s side we can certainly build the diplomatic triangle on different base where people to people relation stand as superstructure and governmental relation will gradually progress on same foundation. If pursued this strategy someday Nepal can mitigate the cultural gap between “Ni hao and Namaste”. We can live in the metaphor of “roti beti ka sambandha”. Then we will be the part of shared civilization where geography would no longer be a destiny. Future will witness new model of human civilization and it would be ‘Connecting nations through tourism’.
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