Alter the way India deals with Nepal

Dahal - after winning the vote - said his government would maintain a balance in its relations with India and China

With Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, aka Prachanda, now firmly in the saddle in Nepal after winning the trust vote for his coalition government, there is concern in New Delhi over the health of India-Nepal relations over the next few years. Dahal, once regarded as India’s friend, is now viewed in some quarters in New Delhi as ‘pro-China’. Anti-Indian ‘imperialism’ and the revocation of the 1950 India-Nepal Treaty were important items on the agenda of the decade-long Maoist insurgency that Dahal had led. Moreover, his government is dependent on the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist, whose leader K P Sharma Oli baited India repeatedly in the 2018-21 period when he was Prime Minister. Understandably, India is concerned that the Dahal government will lean towards China.

Soon after winning the trust vote, Dahal said his government would maintain a balance in its relations with India and China. He also vowed to retrieve territories that he alleged are under Indian occupation. That he made no mention of Nepal’s border dispute with China would not have gone unnoticed in Delhi. Rather than allowing its Nepal policy to be determined by who or which parties comprise its government, India needs to focus on how to further its security interests and craft its policy accordingly. Reports of Indian meddling in Nepali politics and its ‘Big Brother’ behaviour in dealing with its smaller neighbour have often angered Nepali parties and politicians, providing fertile ground for third countries to fish in troubled waters. China’s expanding role in Nepal is partially the outcome of India’s failed diplomacy in the Himalayan country. Shifting away from such diplomacy will shrink the space for China’s rising influence in Nepal.

Dahal is expected to visit Delhi soon. India should find ways to expand economic cooperation with Nepal. Speeding up connectivity projects and expanding access to Indian ports would go a long way toward drawing Kathmandu away from Beijing. India may not be able to compete with China with regard to the amount it can invest in Nepal, but it can do better than Beijing by being a more accommodating neighbour. Unlike China, India has a long history of cultural, kinship and economic ties with Nepal. India must build on these advantages. India’s diplomatic establishment tends to categorise political parties in neighbouring countries as being pro- or anti-India. This is an unhelpful classification. India must learn from Chinese diplomats who engage with all parties, irrespective of their ideology or leanings. Delhi must stop playing favourites with Nepali parties. That strategy is not in India’s interest.