News Highlights:
India will be able to take the unexpected recent developments and the prospect of instability in Nepal in its stride, and even find ways to scale up India Nepal relations through bilateral cooperation.
Key Takeaway:
Nepal is an important neighbour of India and occupies a special significance in its foreign policy because its geographic, historical, cultural and economic linkages/ties span centuries.
Importance of Nepal:
- Political Significance:
- An important cog in pursuing multilateralism, regional integration and cooperation. SAARC, BIMSTEC, etc.
- Nepal is an essential entity in India’s neighbourhood first policy
- Comprises large sections of the Madhesi population with familial and ethnic ties with the states of Bihar and UP. Thus, any mishap on either side has significant political repercussions.
- Strategic Significance:
- Nepal shares a border with 5 Indian states– Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim and Bihar. Both nations share an open and porous border. Therefore, there is a strategic importance for India’s national security.
- Nepal is right in the middle of India’s ‘Himalayan frontiers’; along with Bhutan, it acts as northern ‘borderland’ flanks and as a buffer state against any possible aggression from China.
Areas of Cooperation:
- Trade and economy:
- India is Nepal’s largest trade partner. Nepal’s trade with India has grown in absolute terms and continues to account for more than two-thirds of Nepal’s external trade.
- Indian firms are among the most prominent investors in Nepal’s manufacturing, services, power and tourism sectors.
- As Nepal is landlocked, India provides transit for almost the third country trade of Nepal.
- India is the largest destination for Nepalese migrants, and
- Indian currency (Rs 100 notes) is legal tender in Nepal. This also helps the tourists who travel from India to Nepal.
- Energy:
- Hydropower:
- Cross-border Hydropower energy trade is a vital part of India’s neighbourhood-first policy, with plans to build energy links to check China’s growing influence.
- Nepal and India signed a significant deal in 2014 in which India will build a 900 MW hydropower plant on Nepal’s Arun river.
- The motihari-Amlekhgunj petroleum pipeline was inaugurated in 2019.
- Hydropower:
- Connectivity:
- Nepal is a landlocked country. Two countries have already agreed to construct Integrated Check-Posts at four significant points along borders.
- MOUs have been signed between governments for laying an electric rail track linking Kathmandu with Raxaul in India.
- India has already agreed to allow Nepal to use three inland waterways, thus expanding its transit options.
- Defence Cooperation:
- Any Nepali can join the Indian Army as a jawan and an officer.
- Since 2011 every year India has undertaken a joint military exercise with Nepal known as Surya Kiran.
- India and Nepal have been awarding Army Chiefs to each other with the honorary rank of General.
- Development Assistance:
- The Government of India provides development assistance to Nepal, focusing on creating infrastructure at the grass-root level under various projects that have been implemented in the areas of infrastructure, health, water resources, education and rural & community development.
- There are many High Impact Community Development Projects.
- Education:
- GoI provides around 3000 scholarships/seats annually to Nepalese nationals for various courses at the Phd/Masters and Bachelors levels.
- Health:
- National Trauma Centre at Kathmandu was constructed with the assistance of GOI is a super speciality hospital and the first of its kind in Nepal.
- Before India’s second wave, India had donated about a million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Nepal.
- Cultural:
- There have been initiatives to promote people-to-people contacts in art & culture, academics and media with different local bodies of Nepal.
- India has signed three sister-city agreements for the twinning of Kathmandu-Varanasi, Lumbini-Bodhgaya and Janakpur-Ayodhya.
- The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has helped renovate the Pashupatinath Temple Complex in Kathmandu after the earthquake.
- Humanitarian Assistance:
- Nepal lies in a sensitive ecological fragile zone which is prone to earthquakes and floods, causing massive damage to both life and money, whereby it remains the biggest recipient of India’s humanitarian assistance.
Challenges:
- Territorial Disputes:
- One of the main challenges in the Indo-Nepal ties is the Kalapani boundary issue.
- In 2019, Nepal released a new political map claiming Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh of Uttarakhand and the area of Susta (West Champaran district, Bihar) as part of Nepal’s territory.
- Issues with Peace and Friendship Treaty:
- The 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship was sought by the Nepali authorities in 1949 to continue the special links they had with British India and to provide them with an open border and the right to work in India.
- But today, it is viewed as a sign of an unequal relationship and an Indian imposition.
- The Demonetisation Irritant:
- India’s refusal to accept demonetised bills with the Nepal Rastra Bank and the unknown fate of the report submitted by the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) has not helped in securing a better image in Nepal.
- China’s Intervention:
- Nepal has drifted away from India’s influence, and China has gradually filled the space with investments, aid and loans.
- China considers Nepal a key partner in its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),
- Internal Security:
- It is a significant concern for India as the Indo-Nepal border is virtually open and lightly policed, which is exploited by terrorist outfits and insurgent groups from the North Eastern part of India, e.g. supply of trained cadres, fake Indian currency.
- Trust & Ethnic Differences:
- The trust deficit has widened between India-Nepal because of the Indian reputation for delaying the implementation of various projects.
- There is an anti-India feeling among certain ethnic groups in Nepal.
Way forward:
- Delhi needs to shift to a relationship with Nepal based on “sovereign equality”.
- The need today is to avoid rhetoric on territorial nationalism and lay the groundwork for quiet dialogue where both sides display sensitivity as they explore what is feasible.
- India must be a sensitive and generous partner for the neighbourhood’s first policy to take root.
Pic Courtesy: Pixabay
Content source: The Hindu