India’s relations with Nepal on the mend

Seven pacts in the areas of trade, energy and infrastructure, signed during the just-concluded visit of Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to India, can be expected to strengthen bilateral cooperation. Foremost among the agreements was the one on hydropower; India has agreed to import 10,000 MW from Nepal over the next 10 years. Additionally, India will enable Nepal to start exporting up to 60 MW to Bangladesh through India.

An agreement on India building the 669 MW Lower Arun Hydro Project was also signed. It is already constructing the 900 MW Arun-III hydroelectric project in Nepal and a 490 MW Arun-IV hydropower project is being planned. The two sides also renewed the 1992 Transit Treaty. Under the revised treaty, Nepal will get access to India’s inland waterways too. This should boost the landlocked country’s trade.

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Additionally, they signed an agreement on the construction of the 50 km Siliguri-Jhapa Petroleum Pipeline. The two prime ministers virtually inaugurated or laid the foundation stones for several cross-border projects. In addition to flagging off an Indian Railways cargo train from Bathnaha to Nepal Customs yard, they inaugurated an integrated check post between Rupaidiha-Nepalgunj and Sunauli-Bhairahawa, and laid the foundation stone for Phase II of the Motihari-Amlekhgunj oil pipeline. The projects are mutually beneficial and will boost their economies.

India-Nepal relations nosedived in 2015 when a Madeshi blockade of the border – the Madeshis were protesting provisions in the new Constitution – paralysed Nepal’s economy. The Modi government was perceived in Nepal as extending unofficial support to the blockade. It not only damaged India-Nepal relations but also prompted Kathmandu to turn to China. China’s influence in Nepal’s politics and the economic sphere has grown by leaps and bounds in the years since. Former Prime Minister KPS Oli’s baiting of India on the border dispute among other things only worsened the situation. However, with the Nepali Congress coming to power in 2021, the downslide in India-Nepal relations began to be arrested. Dahal’s visit and the cooperation envisaged under the agreements reached can be expected to set in motion an upswing in ties.

However, anti-India feelings run deep in Nepal. While Nepali politicians stir such feelings to further their narrow interests, India cannot absolve itself of responsibility either. India’s meddling in Nepali domestic politics and the arrogant conduct of its diplomacy with Nepal keep this resentment alive. A mural in the new Parliament building that supposedly depicts Akhand Bharat – the MEA has dismissed such allegations, claiming it is a depiction of Ashoka’s empire–has evoked anger in Nepal as it is seen to be reaffirming India’s expansionist ambitions. State-to-state infrastructure deals can do only so much to improve our relationship with Nepal. Insensitivity to Nepali concerns can undo the co-operation envisaged by bilateral agreements.