Nepal needs to be handled with care

New Delhi’s inauguration of an 80 km-long road linking Dharchula in Uttarkhand with Lipulekh Pass at its tri-junction with Nepal and China has ruffled feathers in Nepal. It has triggered a diplomatic row between New Delhi and Kathmandu. The Nepali government contends that India’s road-building is a “unilateral act” that violates an agreement under which the two countries agreed to find a solution to the territorial dispute through negotiations. In a sign of escalating bilateral tensions over this issue, the Nepali government summoned India’s envoy in Kathmandu. India must handle this sensitive issue with care. Nepal has always resented India’s ‘big brother’ behaviour and should New Delhi adopt an approach that is seen to be arrogant, it will not go down well among the Nepali people. Relations between the two countries have been fraying since 2015 when an economic blockade of Nepal, which Nepal believed had the quiet backing of the Indian government, paralysed its economy. It prompted Nepal to reach out to China. Since then, Sino-Nepal relations have grown by leaps and bounds. Ongoing Sino-Nepali economic and strategic cooperation has serious implications for India’s security. Any escalation in the diplomatic spat will only deepen co-operation between Beijing and Kathmandu. The recently inaugurated road to the Lipulekh Pass has enormous strategic significance for India. It will provide Indian forces with a shorter overland access to the border with China. China’s aggressive infrastructure building right up to its border with India has been a matter of grave concern to India’s security establishment. Although India has built some roads in the strategic border areas, these are still less than that needed to secure its borders. The Dharchula-Lipulekh road is a step towards improving India’s connectivity to the border.

In recent months, China has flexed its muscles vis-à-vis its maritime neighbours. This has prompted apprehensions globally that at a time when the world is preoccupied with dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, China is strengthening its position in territorial disputes. A couple of days ago, Indian and Chinese forces clashed briefly at the disputed border in Sikkim. The possibility that China is putting pressure on Nepal to up the ante with India over its road-building to Lipulekh Pass cannot be ruled out.

It is in India’s interest to address Nepal’s apprehensions and to explain its own concerns to the Nepali government. New Delhi must use diplomatic channels and dialogue to smoothen ruffled feathers in Kathmandu. Allowing this row to escalate will only provide China with space to fish in troubled waters.