India-Nepal Bonhomie

In Context 

• Recently, the Prime Minister of India visited Nepal’s Lumbini on ‘Buddha Purnima’ to deepen ‘time-honoured’ ties.

Major Highlights of the visit 

• Both countries laid the foundation stone for the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage in the Lumbini Monastic Zone. 
  • The Centre will play a role in challenging the preponderance of the Chinese sponsorship and patronage of the Buddhist festivals and institutions in the area.
  • It could also be a harbinger of a focused development of the area into a tourist and cultural hub for pilgrims and other visitors. 
• The visit also coincided with the signing of a few MoUs, the most prominent being the development and implementation of the Arun-4 hydropower project.

• Mr. Modi’s speech in Lumbini sought to highlight the strong cultural ties between the two countries, which already share a special relationship, cemented by the Treaty of Peace and Friendship signed in 1950. 
• The visit is aimed at promoting close, comprehensive and multi-dimensional bilateral ties founded on the age-old connection of history, culture, tradition and religion. 

India and Nepal relations 

• Friendly relations
  • They share close and friendly relations characterised by age-old  historical and cultural linkages, open borders and deep-rooted people-to-people  contacts.
  • The multifaceted relations between the two countries have been given a  renewed momentum in the last few years through intensified high-level political  exchanges, regular meetings of bilateral mechanisms across diverse sectors of  cooperation, expanding economic and development partnership, boosting  connectivity, cooperative initiatives in water resources and hydro-power sectors,  defence and security, and most importantly initiatives to promote people-to-people  contacts between our two countries.

• Operation Maitri & post-earthquake reconstruction assistance:
  • In the wake of the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, GoI was the first responder and carried  out its largest disaster relief operation abroad (Operation Maitri). 
  • India extended  US$ 1 billion to Nepal as part of its long-term assistance for post-earthquake  reconstruction in housing, education, health and culture heritage sectors. 
  • The  reconstruction projects in education, health, culture heritage and housing sectors  were reviewed by the Joint Project Monitoring Committee on 30 September 2021 in  Kathmandu.

• Development Partnership: GoI provides substantial financial and technical assistance to Nepal for  implementation of large development and infrastructure and connectivity projects,  as well as small development projects/ high impact community development  projects in key areas of education, health, irrigation, rural infrastructure, livelihood  development, etc. all across the country. 
  • India and Nepal have also  expanded bilateral cooperation to include new initiatives in the areas of agriculture, railways and inland waterways connectivity.
•  The ‘New Partnership in Agriculture’  :
  • It was announced in April 2018, which focuses on collaborative projects in Agriculture,  Education and R&D.

• India is providing financial and technical assistance for construction of two broad  gauge cross-border railway links viz Jayanagar-Bardibas and Jogbani-Biratnagar. 

• India and Nepal signed a Letter of Exchange (LoE) to the India-Nepal Rail Services  Agreement (RSA), which enabled all authorised cargo train operators including private container train operators to carry Nepal’s container and other freight.

• Recently, a MoU was signed between India and Nepal on 1 February 2022 for the  construction of a motorable bridge across the Mahakali River connecting Dharchula  (India) with Darchula (Nepal), under Indian grant assistance.

• Cooperation in water resources:
  • Cooperation in water resources, primarily concerning the common rivers, is an  important area of cooperation. 
    • Three-tier bilateral mechanism (with Ministerial  meeting at the apex) was established in 2008 to discuss issues relating to  cooperation in water resources, flood management, and inundation. 

• Power cooperation:
  • India and Nepal have robust cooperation in the power sector. Three cross-border  transmission lines were completed recently with GoI assistance: 400 kV  Muzaffarpur-Dhalkebar line (2016); 132 kV Kataiya-Kusaha and Raxaul-Parwanipur  lines (2017).

• Defence and security cooperation:
  • India and Nepal have long standing and extensive mutually beneficial cooperation  in the field of defence and security.
  •  Historically, both armies have shared an excellent  and harmonious relationship, and since 1950, India and Nepal have been awarding  honorary rank of General to each other’s Army Chief. 
  •  The 14th round of Bilateral Consultative Group on Security  Issues (BCGSI) was held on 28 October 2021 at Bengaluru wherein mutual security  concerns, training and capacity building requirements of defence forces of Nepal, exchange of high level and functional level visits etc were discussed.

• Trade and economic ties: India remains Nepal’s largest trade partner, with bilateral trade crossing US$ 7  billion in FY 2019-20. India provides transit for almost the entire third country trade  of Nepal. 
  • India’s export to Nepal has grown over 8 times in the past 10 years while  exports from Nepal have almost doubled. Despite the difficulties due to the  pandemic, India ensured uninterrupted flow of trade and supplies to Nepal. 
  • Nepal is India’s 11th largest export destination, up from 28th position in 2014. 
  • In FY  2021-22, it constituted 2.34% of India’s exports. Infact exports from India constitute  almost 22% of Nepal’s GDP. 

• Educational and people-to-people exchanges: India and Nepal extend visa-free entry in their respective territories to each other’s  nationals. Nearly eight (8) million Nepalese citizens live and work in India and  around 6,00,000 Indians reside in Nepal. Indians account for about 30% of foreign  tourists in Nepal. 
• Cultural exchanges:  GoI initiatives to promote cultural exchanges include cultural programmes,  symposia and events organised in partnership with different local bodies of Nepal,  as well as conferences and seminars in Hindi, Sanskrit. 
• COVID assistance:  As part of our Covid-19 assistance, India had supplied more than 23 tonnes of  medicines and medical equipment to Nepal on Grant basis during the first wave of  COVID-19. India has recently resumed the supply of Covid-19 vaccine to Nepal. 

Challenges in the Indo-Nepalese Relations

• Entry of China:
  • The Chinese Propaganda and debt diplomacy is luring Nepal.
  • Nepal too is using China Card to negotiate with India
• Anti-Indian Sentiment post alleged Blockade by India after Constitutional crisis in Nepal
• Kalapani Boundary Dispute:
  • The place is located in the easternmost corner of Pithoragarh and shares a border on the north with the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and Nepal in the east and south.
  • The area is in India’s control but Nepal claims the region because of historical and cartographic reasons.

Way Forward

• The issue should be promptly resolved through dialogue and no structure should be built at the state level until resolution is reached through dialogue.
• The border dispute between Nepal and India must be resolved on the basis of the Sugauli Treaty of 1816.
  • According to Nepal, the Sugauli Treaty says that territories that lie west of the Mahakali River belong to Nepal.
• In accordance with Gujral Doctrine: India must keep on strengthening such ties.
• There are several irritants that have developed, straining this relationship, and for now there seems to be a concerted attempt by both regimes to return to bonhomie, with the Indian government seeking to utilise “religious diplomacy” as a means to emphasise the special relationship. 
• India-Nepal relations need to graduate to a more meaningful partnership on economic and geopolitical issues, with the Indian government continuing to retain a substantial role in partnering the Nepali regime in development projects.