India and Nepal have shared a very special relationship with each other since times immemorial. The foundation of this special relationship is based on common culture, language, religion, marriage and mythology. The people to people contact between India and Nepal are closer and more multifaceted than it is with any other country. The proof of friendship lies in the fact that there are approx 40000 Gorkha’s from Nepal who have been recruited in the Indian Army’s Gorkha Regiment and around 6,00,000 Indians which includes businessmen and traders, doctors, engineers, IT personnel and labourersare presently living/domiciled in Nepal

To understand Indo-Nepal relations in its entirety we need to go back into history a couple of centuries before.Following the unification of Nepal under Prithvi Narayan Shah, Nepal attempted to enlarge its domains, conquering much of Sikkim in the east and the basins of Gandaki &Karnali and the Uttarakhand regions of Garhwal and Kumaonin the west.This brought them in conflict with the British, who controlled directly or indirectly the north Indian plains between Delhi and Calcutta. The British East India Company evicted the Nepalese from Garhwal and Kumaon across the Kali River and offered peace terms in return for accepting British suzerainty in the form of a protected state and the delimitation of Nepal's territories corresponding roughly to its present day boundaries. Subsequently this truce led to the Treaty of Sugauli being signed between the British and Nepal.

According to the Treaty of Sugauli ratified in year 1816, the Mahakali river located in the western area of Nepal was designated as the western border of Nepal. Subsequently however, in the year 1860, the Britishers excluded the area consisting Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh for the purpose of trading with China and ever since then, even after the Independence,this area continues to be under India’s control. In year 1950 Nepal and India signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship which forms the bedrock of the special relations that exist between India and Nepal. Nepalese citizens avail facilities and opportunities on par with Indian citizens in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty.

Nepal has been always a strategically important country for India. It shares a long border which stretches over 1100 km sharing borders with five Indian states, Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, West Bengal and Sikkim.The Strategic significance of Nepal is its unique geographical location which forms a natural buffer between two hostile countries India and China. The two countries have shared a very strong relation for a long time but off late this has been impacted by some recent events and issues.

The Communist Party of Nepal came into power in year 2015 under the Prime Ministership of Mr KP Sharma Oli.The ideological affinity of the Party drew the ruling dispensation in Nepal towards China. The new Nepalese Constitution adopted in the same yeardid not adequately cater to the aspirations of the ethnic minorities, mainly the ‘Madhesis’ living in Nepal. Resultantly, the Madhesis rejected the Constitution and demanded its amendment so that their rights and aspirations could be addressed.The Madhesis agitation turned violent and to put pressure on the Government blocked the main arterial road which connects India with Nepal. This resulted in disruption of movement of essential goods, petrol and construction material which was urgently required to rebuild Nepal which had been ravaged by an earthquake earlier that year. Since the Madhesis minority share strong ethnic ties with the adjoining Terai region of Bihar in India, the people of Nepal widely believed that India was behind the Madhesis violence and wanted instability in Nepal because India perceived the ruling dispensation in Nepal to be Pro-China. This feeling resulted in the hash tag movement called #backoffIndia. Taking advantage of the deteriorating India-Nepal relations, China moved in to provide petrol and other important essential commodities to Nepal during this period of road blockade and have ever since been making efforts to replace Nepal’s dependence on India.

The other major issue was “Lepulekh Agreement” between India and China in year 2015 which effectively reduced the travelling distance for Indian pilgrims visiting Kailash Mansarovar by nearly 80%. However, at the time of signing the agreement India did not consult Nepal who has for long has a territory dispute with India in this area, The inauguration of the road to Lepulekhby the RM which passes through 17km of territory claimed by Nepal as disputed came as a God-given gift to the Nepalese PM Oli who was besieged with bickering within the ruling Communist Party and an anti-Oli move was gathering steam among senior members due to PM’s autocratic style of functioning, non-performance and tendency to marginalise party colleagues which had alienated the majority of the nine-member party secretariat. PM Oli reacted swiftly and was successfully able to divert public attention of the political parties as well as ginger-up nationalist sentiments in the country against India. In a recent development the Nepalese Parliament cutting across party lines made a constitutional amendment to revise the maps of Nepal to include the territories of Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lepulekh. This action has left no scope for any diplomatic intervention or dialogue with India on the border issue.PM Oli further suspects that India was engaged with Prachananda to replace him as PM which is the biggest spoke in Indo Nepal relationship today. By upping the ante against Delhi and playing the “nationalist card” against India, Oli planned to divert the criticism that had been rising against him. Oli has gone further with the deployment of Nepalese Army on its border with India and in another worrying unprecedented development, also accepted China’s proposal to make Mandarin mandatory in Nepal’s schools. Nepal would be better off realising how Pakistan has been cheated by China who is pursuing Xi Jinping foreign policy which has entrapped and pushed more than 10 countries in China’s debt- trap diplomacy with Sri Lanka losing the Hambantota port and Tajikistan signing over 1,000 sq km are just a few examples of costs a nation must bear while partnering with China. BRI is merely a move of China to grow its roots under its expansionist tactics across the world and India should help Nepal with its infrastructural needs to keep its Himalayan neighbour away from Beijing’s exploitative agenda.

India, in such circumstances needs to urgently opt for the diplomatic route and resume a dialogue with the Nepalese leadership to help clear much of the air of uncertainty and mistrust. It can also help in engaging with Kathmandu on the contentious boundary issues to bring down the temperature and stem the deterioration in Indo-Nepal ties. How politics in Nepal ultimately pans out in the coming days may not be in India’s control. But Delhi must reclaim the primacy of place it enjoyed for decades among the Nepali political leaders and the people of Nepal. Nepalese pride is as high as the Everest and India should not mistake size for competence. We need to sit across the table like equals get things in order.

On the other hand, China would hope and work towards ensuring that relationships between Nepal and India remains sour.