Relevance: GS Paper II & III (International Relations, Internal Security)
Why has this issue cropped up?
Despite several attempts at a reset, ties between India and Nepal continue to be a cause for concern.
The recent incidents of disconnect
- The disconnect between the two governments was most visible at the BIMSTEC military exercises concluded recently. After confirming its participation in June, the Nepalese Army withdrew from the exercise.
- Nepal’s decision to join China for a 12-day Mt Everest Friendship Exercise in Sichuan province, also focussed on anti-terrorism drills, drives the wedge in further.
- Despite New Delhi signalling its discomfiture with the volume of Chinese investment in hydropower and infrastructure and transport projects, Nepal went ahead recently and finalised an ambitious connectivity proposal that will eventually link Kathmandu to Shigatse by rail.
Way forward
- New Delhi and Kathmandu must put an end to the unseemly controversy by renewing diplomatic efforts over the issue.
- India and Nepal don’t just share an open border; they have shared the deepest military links. Such unique ties must not be undermined due to lack of communication. The larger geopolitical context of the discord over the military exercises must not be ignored.
- India is still blamed for the 2015 economic blockade against Nepal. It is also held responsible for attempts to destabilise Mr. Oli’s previous tenure as Prime Minister during 2015-2016. New Delhi cannot turn a blind eye to the rebuffs, and must address them.
- At such a time, the Army chief, General Bipin Rawat’s statement on BIMSTEC, that “geography” will ensure that countries like Bhutan and Nepal “cannot delink themselves” from India, could have been avoided; such comments unnerve India’s smaller neighbours and are misleading. Modern technology and connectivity projects could well take away geography’s role as a guarantor of good relations.
