Nepal and India are entwined geographically and culturally. Politically, Nepal and India stood on the same diplomatic footing when India gained freedom from the British in 1947 and Nepal threw out the oligarchic Rana rule in early 1951, of course, with Indian support. In their early days of diplomacy, Nepali political leaders and even the late kings enjoyed warm personal relations with the political leaders of independent India. Perhaps this was the reason two big river projects were signed and executed on the basis of mutual respect and cooperation during these initial days.
These two river projects, Koshi and Gandak, had severe impacts on large areas of eastern Uttar Pradeh and Bihar, which were severely affected by floods in these rivers during the rainy season, much more than Nepali territories were affected by them. Significantly, had there been no barrage constructed on Koshi, eastern Nepal would not have been as developed as it is today. Again, the deleterious impacts of these two river projects on India was more than that on Nepal.
India, Nepal’s biggest economic partner, has been providing substantial economic assistance for the country’s development. Its contribution in construction of Tribhuvan Highway, Trisuli hydropower project and buildings for Tribhuvan University Central Departments, etc. half a century ago were foundation stones of Nepal’s development. Apart from thousands of Nepali students studying in India on self-financing, India has been providing scholarships for technical education including medical and engineering courses to Nepali students for more than six decades. Thousands more earn their bread and butter in India and common Nepalis are India-dependent for even basic commodities like salt.
Against this backdrop, it is commonly perceived that Indian diplomacy in Nepal has not been effective. Amazingly, instead of getting support from both public and intelligentsia, most newspapers and electronic media in Nepal seem to be anti-India. The constructions of Indian projects are often obstructed by the local people, whereas Chinese projects are welcomed. Why is Nepal not interested in getting hydropower projects constructed by Indian developers? And why are Indian security concerns never taken seriously by the Nepali establishment?
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It seems that either India has not been able to take care of Nepal’s interests, or Nepal deliberately wants to maintain a distance with India. Perhaps India’s assistance in transforming Nepal into a democracy from an oligarchy has turned supporters of the old establishment against India. The political leaders, who once enjoyed warm relations with Indian leaders, started spewing venom against the country for not giving them overt and covert support. The first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was respectful of Nepalis and went out of his way to help Nepal establish a dependable bureaucracy from scratch. An Indian administrator advised Nepali administration for a long time. Between 1947 and 1950, India assisted in the drafting of a democratic constitution with the help of its constitutional experts. From helping democratic forces, its role underwent a sea change, starting with the incident of King Tribhuvan taking shelter in Indian Embassy. India was also involved in the follow-up negotiations between the Ranas, the king and the leaders of Nepal Congress. There are many anecdotes related to Indian diplomats serving in Nepal. One Indian envoy sought the permission of a Nepali Minister to get some fish from a pond at Balaju to serve to Indian guests visiting Kathmandu. Similarly, an Indian ambassador used to openly shuttle between KP Bhattarai, GP Koirala and Ganeshman Singh to foster rapprochement between these top leaders. Such active Indian diplomacy was disgusting to many Nepalis. Even the signing of the 12-point Understanding in India is not digestible to some.
Publicity never seemed to be a priority of the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu. Perhaps, it never analyzed the reason why it does not enjoy media support in Nepal. Interestingly, the weeklies, some of which support Indian diplomacy, have no mass circulation. Indian Embassy’s own monthly magazine Bharat Samachar did not prove to be an effective substitute either. Remarkably, even on public diplomacy front, the elite of Kathmandu set the trajectory of Nepal’s relationship with India, while the opinions of nearly half the country’s population settled on Nepal-India border are never sought by establishments on either side of the border. Perhaps, Indian leaders lack Nepal specific vision and its diplomats are deficient in gauging the psychology of Nepalis. In short, lack of vision, unwarranted meddling, a failure to assess the changed political situation, and perhaps most importantly, a failure to communicate effectively with Nepali people, seems to dog Indian diplomacy in Nepal.
The author is a former election commissioner of Nepal
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