Nepal King to visit Indonesia

Concluding that politics in Nepal has settled down, King Gyanendra has decided that it is now safe to spread his wings.

For the first time since he took charge of Nepal on February 1, declared an Emergency, put opposition leaders in jail and imposed press censorship, King Gyanendra is travelling abroad.

He will visit Indonesia for the 50th anniversary of the Bandung conference. An encounter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appears unavoidable. Gyanendra is yet to grant an audience to Indian Ambassador in Kathmandu SS Mukherjee.

After Indonesia, Gyanendra will travel to Hainan on April 22 to attend a meeting of the Boao Forum. These visits are aimed at getting some kind of seal of legitimacy after he assumed all powers and dismissed an elected government. The Hainan visit will be his second engagement with China after he became a ruling and reigning monarch.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing was the first foreign visitor to Nepal after the royal coup followed by leaders from Cuba and Pakistan.

Although envisaged as a non-government, non-profitable organisation and an Asian equivalent of the World Economic Forum, the Boao Forum has the blessings of the Chinese official establishment and the endorsement of President Hua Junduo.

The 2005 meeting will be addressed by Jia Qinglin, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, one of the topmost political advisory bodies of the Communist Party of China, charged with dealing with representative of other party organisations and countries, on one platform.

Jia was earlier a member of the CPC politburo's political committee. He is a highly influential figure in the Chinese establishment.

India is sending newly appointed Deputy National Security Adviser Vijay Nambiar as its representative to the meeting, which will debate "China's Peaceful Rise and the New Role for Asia".

The late King Birendra of Nepal was one of the founding members of the Boao Forum that was launched by former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke, former Japanese Prime Minister Morihiro Hosakawa, former Phillippines Prime Minister Fidel Ramos and leaders from 26 other nations.

What is important about Gyanendra's attendance is that the semi-government nature of the organisation will help him get an unofficial seal on his illegal dismissal of Parliament and seizing power in Kathmandu.

He will be present at a presentation on the new role of Asia and will be accompanied by Kirti Nidhi Bista, vice chairman of the council of ministers in Nepal.

Other leaders who are attending the conference are Prime Minister of Australia John Howard, Mentor and former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kwan Yew, Malaysia President Ahmad Badawi, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Japan Yoriko Kawaguchi, Foreign Minister of Iran Kamal Kharazzi, and a handful of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies from all over the globe.