• January 7, 2023

New phase in India-Nepal relations

Tags:GS 2

 India & Foreign Relations

In News

A third term as prime minister of Nepal was sworn in by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as “Prachanda

Implications for India 

• Recent political changes in Nepal could give India-Nepal relations a fresh boost.

• India can accept this progress without a problem.

India and Nepal are in a unique position to rethink economic administration in order to improve human welfare because of the breadth and depth of their relationships.

• Diverse yet fair and constructive approaches to India-Nepal relations would help to improve knowledge of the past and raise awareness of current issues. Pushpa Kamal Dahal, commonly known as “Prachanda,” was sworn in for a third term as prime minister of Nepal.

• Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda,” who is perceived as being pro-China, has previously stated that a new understanding with India needs to be developed on the basis of a “changed scenario” in Nepal and after addressing all outstanding issues, such as revising the 1950 Friendship Treaty and settling the border disputes between Kalapani and Susta.

India-Nepal Relations 

• Unique friendship and collaboration ties bind India and Nepal together.

• The 1950 India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship serves as the cornerstone of the unique ties between the two nations.

• The two nations have cordial relations that are defined by enduring historical and cultural ties, open borders, and enduring people-to-people ties.

o Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand are five Indian states with whom the country shares a border of over 1,850 km. o The two countries’ strategic relationship has been further strengthened by the regular high-level interactions and visits are exchanged. Given that India is Nepal’s main trading partner, economic cooperation has been one of the main areas of interest shared between the two countries.

One of the key facets of India’s foreign policy has been its contribution to the connectivity and development cooperation in Nepal.

• The building of infrastructure at the local level has been the main emphasis of India’s development assistance to Nepal.

o Numerous initiatives in the fields of infrastructure, health, water resources, education, and rural and community development have been put into action.

• Accessibility: Landlocked India is a major source of transportation for products and services in Nepal.

o India provides Nepal with access to the sea, and the country imports the majority of its needs from and through India.

• Defense and security collaboration: India and Nepal have a long history of mutually beneficial defence and security cooperation.

• Post-earthquake reconstruction aid and disaster management: Operation Maitri

• India and Nepal work closely together in the power industry.

• Cultural programmes, symposia, and events produced in collaboration with various local entities in Nepal, as well as conferences and seminars in Hindi and Sanskrit, are just a few of the GoI’s attempts to encourage cultural interactions.

· A tourism circuit connecting the pilgrimage sites in the two nations is being built by India and Nepal. This vision aims to link worshippers with the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu and includes the Varanasi-based Vishwanath temple.

• COVID help: During the first wave of COVID-19, India provided Nepal with more than 23 tonnes of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies on a grant basis as part of our Covid-19 assistance.

Issues /Challenges 

• In 2015, India was initially held accountable for meddling with the Constitution-writing process before being held accountable for a “unofficial embargo” that led to intense hostility toward India.

• China now places more emphasis on political parties and organisations like the Army and Armed Police Force, and it sees Nepal as a key component of its expanding South Asian influence.

• The Kalapani dispute: India controls the territory, but Nepal claims it for historical and geographic reasons.

o The region, which spans at least 37,000 hectares of territory in the High Himalayas, is the site of Nepal and India’s greatest territorial dispute.

• After Nepal’s Parliament unanimously approved a new political map of the nation in 2020 that included the Lipulekh, Kalapani, and Limpiyadhura regions that India claims as its own, India referred to the “artificial extension” of Nepal’s territorial claims as “untenable.”

• In 2015, India was initially held accountable for meddling with the Constitution-writing process before being held accountable for a “unofficial embargo” that led to intense hostility toward India.

• China now places more emphasis on political parties and organisations like the Army and Armed Police Force, and it sees Nepal as a key component of its expanding South Asian influence.

• The Kalapani dispute: India controls the territory, but Nepal claims it for historical and geographic reasons.

o The region, which spans at least 37,000 hectares of territory in the High Himalayas, is the site of Nepal and India’s greatest territorial dispute.

• After Nepal’s Parliament unanimously approved a new political map of the nation in 2020 that included the Lipulekh, Kalapani, and Limpiyadhura regions that India claims as its own, India referred to the “artificial extension” of Nepal’s territorial claims as “untenable.”

Conclusion and Way Forward 

• The degree of involvement and shared interests between Nepal and India have forged a strong interdependence.

• In order to make sure that the cooperation benefits the citizens of both countries, we must take advantage of these enablers.

• Our relationship should be based on goodwill, trust, understanding, equality, respect, and mutual benefit. Problems between India and Nepal should be resolved diplomatically.

• In order to fully realise the potential of their bilateral partnership, India and Nepal must diplomatically resolve some of the problems “left by history.”

• A variety of concerns, such as economic recovery, bilateral, sub-regional, and regional collaboration, and restructuring, call for new perspectives right now.

• People-to-people interactions, supply chains, conventional and human security, energy cooperation, development, and the untapped potential of technology to accelerate inclusive growth and soft power to maximise mutual benefit.