Mentor’s Comment:

India Nepal strategic ties dates back to 1816 with the treaty of Sugauli, which later flourished under the British and further cooperation increased after India’s independence. Introduction should talk in general about India-Nepal relation.

Further, need to talk what are the recent issues in relations. Nepal thinks India interfering in Nepal’s internal affairs, India’s criticism on Nepal’s newly developed constitution especially reservation, blockade by Madhesis to which India does not seem to take action, Nepal getting closer to China and signing new trade agreements etc. , Nepal’s joining OBOR, Infrastructure development in Nepal by China, India’s demand of action against guilty of Human Rights violation during Maoist agitation. Etc.

Next mention what steps India should take to improve the relation. i.e. fast track delivery and development in Nepal by India, prioritizing Nepal in India’s Neighbourhood first policy and making more funds available, India should avoid China’s presence and do its best possible, after all there geographical advantage for India to have better strategic ties with Nepal concerning its security and sovereignty.  

Next, bring conclusion based on the content of main body.

Model Answer:

While  Nepal  and India have close  historical, religious  and cultural  ties,  Nepal’s  strategic  ties  with India date  back to the Treaty of Sugauli of 1816 which was signed between the Nepalese monarch and the British East  India  Company.  Indian strategists  and  policy  makers  consider  Nepal  as  critical  to  India’s  security.  The  British  Indian  Empire  saw  Nepal  as  the buffer with China and after 1947 India continued with that policy. Any signs of close ties between Nepal and China are, therefore, anathema to New Delhi.

Recent issues in Indo-Nepal Relations:

• India played  a  valued  role  in  ending  the  Maoist  insurgency  in  2006,  but  the  period  thereafter  was  marked  by escalating micro-meddling in Nepal’s internal affairs.
• India has raised its reservation over newly passed Nepali constitution and criticised it for not addressing concerns of Madhesis and other marginalised section.
• The presence  of  India’s  heavy  hand  contributed  in  numerous  ways  to  the  distortion  of  consensual  governance needed in transitional times.
• After devastating  earthquake  in  Nepal,  the  blockade  by  Madhesis  had  halted  oil  and  other  essential  supplies, which created another humanitarian crisis in Nepal. Nepal government blames India for this blockade.
• In recent times Nepal is getting closer to China, is also one of the important reason for current problems.
• The Great  Blockade  forced  the  Kathmandu  political  leadership  to  reach  out  to  Beijing  and  sign  a  slew  of  trade, transit  and infrastructural  agreements  with  Few  know that  Nepal  is  today  better  connected by  air to  Chinese cities than to India.
• Nepal joined  famed  One  Belt  One  Road  initiative  of    This  is  a  project,  which  is  a  bone  of  contention between China and India.
• With Nepal  being  a  member  of  OBOR,  China  is  pushing  its  connectivity  with  Nepal  with  setting  up  of  railways, highways and modern infrastructure projects in the fields of electricity and agriculture.
• India criticised Nepal’s human rights record at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, especially in dealing with the Madhesi agitation.
• India also demanded legal action against those guilty of human rights violations during the years of insurgency in Nepal.

What steps India should take:

• Instead of agonizing over what China is doing in Nepal, Delhi would do well to fast-track the delivery on its own commitments to its Himalayan neighbour.
• It is telling that India and Nepal finalized a long pending agreement on opening more air routes into the country for international flights over Indian airspace just three days before Oli embarked on his Beijing visit.
• India’s ‘neighbourhood  first’  policy  should  prioritise  making  funds  available  to  invest  in  neighbour  countries’ developmental needs while also maintaining a clear focus on delivery.
• Chinese growing presence in Nepal is a reality that India can do little about. There is no point bemoaning Chinese presence.
• Instead, India  should  be  providing  an  alternative  narrative  for  India-Nepal  ties,  one  that  takes  into  account longstanding  people-to-people  ties  and  cultural  connect  even  as  it  underscores  New  Delhi’s  commitment  for  an equitable and sustainable partnership between two sovereign nations.
• Being the bigger country with several economic advantages, India must be generous and consider how to reduce the trade deficit with Nepal.
• Nepal has  a  lot  to  gain  by  winning  India’s    That  does  not  mean  that  Nepal  should  sacrifice  its  good relationship  with China  to  gain it. Neither does  it  mean  that  Kathmandu  has  to  give  up everything, including its conscience, while taking decisions on Nepal’s interests.

Sandwiched  between  two  big  countries,  it  is  natural  that  Nepal  should  seek  to  maximise  its  geography  to  its  own advantage. Termed as big brother of the region, India had promised a lot of infrastructural development programmes in its neighbourhood. Now is the time, especially with Nepal, that India starts focusing on timely delivery of these projects. Nothing else will help India in elevating its stature in the region than by acting as an elder brother and not a big brother.