Since its inception as a modern nation state, Nepal has concluded various bilateral agreements with her neighboUrs. Notables among these were the agreements on the Kosi and the Gandaki rivers. The national feeling is that of losing in the bargain-ing with the more informed and powerful neighbour, because both the agreements did not bring to the country as much benefits as could have been obtained.
These experiences are sources of learning and can have both positive and nega-tive influence in present decision making. A positive approach would be to learn from the experience and improve decisions in the future. The negative influence would be perpetuating the grievances and planning revenge against the opponent. The second approach is unlikely to protect national interests.