Diplomatic campaign , 1983 He managed to maintain Nepal's independence despite encroaching influences by India, China, and the Soviet Union. His first trips abroad as king were to India in October 1973 and China two months later. He prevented the breaking up of Mustang from Nepal and Tibet from China during the Mustang revolution. The disarmament of Khampas rebellions working against China brought Nepal-China relations to a new height. His compatriots remember him for his extensive campaign and contribution for the establishment of
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and South Asian food reserve. During his reign, he was also able to set up the SAARC Secretariat in Kathmandu. He was able to establish diplomatic relations with additional 46 countries taking the total number of countries for diplomatic relations from 49 to 96. He further strengthened Nepal's policy of neutrality by promoting
Nepal as zone of Peace in the UN. He believed that Nepal, sandwiched between the two Asian powers, should have good relationship with both. This proposal was supported by 116 countries in the UNO. In 1974,
King Birendra was successful in peacefully disarming the
Khampas rebellions, settled in the northern Himalayan region, by giving land, money and citizenship to those who surrendered their arms, and by confiscating weapons as well. Thus who did not surrender would be prohibited from moving toward the Tibetan region. Birendra is also credited with blocking the use of the army for suppressing the Maoist revolution in the country, which would've further aggravated the situation and disturbed the peace in the nation.
Environmental protection at Sagarmatha National Park King Birendra was regarded as a lover of nature and a great supporter of nature conservation. The trend of nature conservation from the government started during his reign. The dramatic decline of the rhinoceros population due to massive Terai migration and the extent of poaching prompted the government to institute the Rhino Patrol force (Nepali:
गैडा गस्ती ) of 130 armed men and a network of guard posts all over Chitwan. To prevent the extinction of rhinos through a legal system, National park law was introduced which gazetted the
Chitwan National Park in December 1970, with borders delineated the following year and established in 1973. at Chitwan National Park For the purpose of conservation of Tigers in the nation, an area of 368 km2 was gazetted as
Royal Karnali Wildlife Reserve in 1976 which was later proclaimed as
Royal Bardiya Wildlife Reserve in 1982. The
Babai River Valley was further added to this reserved area in 1984. A flourishing ecosystem in the reserve later led to the proclamation of the area as national park in 1988. The country's fourth protected area was established in 1976 from the Himalayan area of Langtang and named as
Langtang National Park. For this purpose, an area of 1,710 km2 was reserved in the district of
Nuwakot,
Rasuwa and
Sindhulpalchok. He also gazetted another wildlife reserve in 1976 as
Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve. In the same year, he also established
Royal Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve in the Terai region of far-western province which was later enlarged and converted to national park in the late 1980s. Also, another protected area,
Rara National Park was established in the same year in order to protect the unique flora and fauna of
Humla,
Mugu and
Jumla regions and to fulfil his father,
King Mahendra's dream of creating a pristine nature reserve with a reserved area of 106 km2 in the
Mugu and
Jumla districts which also includes the famous Rara Lake. The last National Park to be established as part of the
Sacred Himalayan Landscape in the same year was
Sagarmatha National Park in with reservation of area of 1,148 km2 in the
Solukhumbu District. In 1984, a 225 km2 area of
Bajhang,
Bajura,
Achham and
Doti was set aside as a protected area in the
Far-Western Region, Nepal and was named
Khaptad National Park. In the same year, he also established
Parsa Wildlife Reserve which was later extended to a National Park. Similarly, the nation's only trans-
Himalayan national park,
Shey Phoksundo National Park, was established in 1984 with an area of 3,555 square Kilometers in the districts of
Dolpa and
Mugu in the
Karnali Province which also included the famous
Phoksundo Lake. Moreover, with his efforts, Nepal was able to enlist
Sagarmatha National Park in 1979 and
Chitwan National Park in 1984 into the
UNESCO World heritage sites. Similarly, monument zones such as the Durbar squares of
Kathmandu,
Lalitpur and
Bhaktapur and religious sites such as
Swayambhunath,
Boudhanath,
Pashupatinath Temple and
Changu Narayan was also enlisted in 1979.
Economic reforms Focusing on sustainability and environmental conservation, on , trolley bus system was established in Nepal from the aid of
People's Republic of China. He followed in the path of his father to establish industrial estates by establishing Nepalgunj Industrial Area(1973), Pokhara Industrial Area(1974), Butwal Industrial Area(1976), Bhaktapur Industrial Area(1979), Dhankuta Industrial Area(1980), Birendranagar Industrial Area(1981), Gajendranarayan Industrial Area(1986) respectively. Birendra is initially credited for devising the plan of Melamchi water project to Kathmandu. Gorakhali Tires Industries, Udayapur Cement Industries Limited, Nepal Metal company, Nepal Pharmaceuticals were all established during his time. King Birendra, was the patron of
Pashupati Area Development Trust. In April 1979, Nepal Oriental Magnesite factory was established with a joint investment of Nepal government and Orissa Industries, India at
Lakuri Danda in
Dolakha District with the objective of producing dead burnt magnesite and talc powder. In 1983 he was able to establish a
Nepal-Pakistan Joint Economic Commission bringing in significant foreign investments in the country. A 60 megawatt
hydropower project at Kulekhani began operation in 1982 with economic aid from the
World Bank,
Kuwait, and
Japan.
TU Teaching Hospital was established in 1982 with the economic support from
Japan International Cooperation Agency. Nardevi Ayurvedic Hospital was established in 1974. Nepal Police Hospital was established by the king on the 27th of Chaitra, 2040 BS with an intention to provide free health services to in- service policemen and, their families. He established Securities Exchange Center Ltd in 1976 to manage, promote and support the growth of trade of stocks and capitals in the nation. This center was later developed to what we know today as
Nepal Stock Exchange. He is also credited for establishing the first television channel of Nepal
Nepal Television in 1984 which started its first channel in 1985 with French aid. Due to these economic reforms, by 1986, there were 2,054 industrial establishments employing about 125 thousand workers in the nation. By 1990, reach of people for television meant that video rental services and satellite dishes were commonly available. King Birendra in the advice and consent of Rastriya Panchayat in 1986 established Mahendra Sanskrit University to manage
Sanskrit education in Nepal in Dang which at the time of its commencement was the second university of the country.
Roads and transportation Various Studies in 1972 showed that building road connectivity in hilly and rural areas were more expensive than air connectivity. So, the then government took the policy of connecting rural areas with airports and build roads only when there was a high amount of traffic flow. Under this policy,
Baglung Airport (
Balewa Airport), Dhorpatan Airport,
Mahendranagar Airport and
Rukum Chaurjahari Airport was established in the year 1973.
Sanphebagar airport was established in 1975.
Simikot Airport was established on 18 March 1977,
Dolpa Airport, was established in 1978 and
Ramechhap airport in 1979.
Doti Airport, also known as Silgadhi Airport was established in 1973 with the blacktopped runway.
Talcha Airport, also known as
Rara Airport was built in 1975.
Taplejung Airport located in
Phungling, also called
Suketar Airport, Jiri Airport and
Phaplu Airport and
Bajhang Airport was built in 1976.
Rolpa Airport in 1980,
Manang Airport in 1981,
Bajura airport in 1984 and Darchula Airport in 1986. Similarly, The Lamosangu-Jiri road leading to Solukhumbu was commissioned in 1985 with Swiss government aid.
Promotion of agriculture The government, during Birendra's reign, focused highly on agriculture promotion. As a result, almost 90% of the population was directly or indirectly involved in agriculture by 1990. Bhrikuti Pulp and Paper was established in 1985 under the Companies Act 2021 (
Bikram Sambat) with support from the
People's Republic of China. Increase in agricultural lands and agricultural workforce provided increased supplies of food, resulting in better nutrition. Corn production was increased to over 1 million tons in 1991 from 500,000 tons in 1961. Lumbini Sugar Mills at Sunwal,
Nawalparasi was built with the technical assistance from China in 1982. Similarly. establishment of agriculture based industries such as Bhrikuti Pulp and Paper, Hetauda Textile and huge number of carpet and garment industry were established to convert raw agricultural produce which contributed greatly to the economy.
Political achievements During the reign of King Birendra, referendum was held in 2037 BS for democracy wherein options were a multi-party system or a Panchayati system. During the Panchayat era and after the national referendum, he divided the nation into 5 development regions in order to create balanced development, and visited each division once a year; the visits were discontinued after 1990 democracy movement. Despite previously being an autocratic rule and constant pressure from the supporters and royal members, the king always played the role of constitutional monarch by the book and never overstepped his boundaries. King Birendra was always there when there was some political crisis in the nation. Mid-term elections, 2051 and general election, 2056 can be attributed to his good governance. The King regularly asked the Supreme Court for its advice on any political matters that could concern the constitution so that he would never overstep the boundaries of the constitution. He created a culture where the king and prime minister would meet every Thursday at his palace to discuss matters of state.
Social reforms Recognizing low literacy levels as the main hindrance to national progress, King Birendra made development of education system his national priority. The five-year plan starting from 1971 was mainly focused in building new educational institutions and upgrading the efficiency of the current education system. On the auspicious occasion of his coronation, King Birendra declared primary education to be free for all Nepalese citizens. Similarly, in 1978 with a royal approval all educational material started to be distributed free of costs to educational institutions. King Birendra became the patron of
Royal Nepal Academy of Science and Technology which worked in the field of developing science and technology in the nation. He established
Mahendra Sanskrit University in 1986 to preserve the language and culture in the region. Dowry system was criminalized in Nepal in 1976 under the Social Practices Reform Act (2033 B.S). Under the five-year plan, King Birendra started the policy of National Service which required the post-graduate students to contribute their one-year of service to the development works in the rural areas. He initiated the process of preserving the history by establishing
Natural History Museum in 1975. On 22 September 1976 he enacted Narcotic Drugs (Control) Act, 2033 prohibiting the trade, smuggling or any kind of drug trafficking in the country.
Development policy Birendra took the policy of road development according to the population and daily road traffic and connecting the rural areas with airports. He restructured many governmental organization for the purpose of achieving developmental goals. He stressed roadbuilding, sanitation and scientific as well as technical trainings. A comprehensive study performed regarding the central planning agency triggered the restructuring of the National Planning Commission in 1972 and minor changes in 1987. The government policy focused mainly on environment conservation, agriculture and education. == Criticism ==