Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: India-Nepal Relations
Nepal is in a constitutional crisis with major organs of the state confronting each other as the Chief Justice is under undeclared house arrest and the PM openly criticizing the President.
Nepal polity in turmoil
- Prime Minister who is backed by the chiefs of four major coalition partners, is at loggerheads with President.
- The President might seek to rule as an extra-constitutional authority beyond the sanction and imagination of the Constitution that completed six years last week.
Genesis of the crisis: Row over Citizenship
- The current crisis began after President refused to ratify Nepal’s citizenship bill, which was sent to her twice after it was passed by both Houses of Parliament over the span of a month.
- The bill seeks to give citizenship by birth and by descent to an estimated 500,000 individuals.
- It was also sought to provide non-voting citizenship to non-resident Nepalis living in non-SAARC countries.
Constitutional crisis in Nepal: A backgrounder
- Nepal transitioned into a democracy beginning with the fall of the monarchy in 2006 and the subsequent election of the Maoist government in 2008.
- The emergence of the multiparty system was followed by the adoption of a constitution on September 20, 2015.
- All Nepalese citizens born before this date got naturalised citizenship.
- But their children remained without citizenship as that was to be guided by a federal law which has not yet been framed.
- This amendment Act was expected to pave the way to citizenship for many such stateless youth as well as their parents.
What are the issues with the Act?
Ans. Gender bias
- The main criticism against the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2006 is that it goes against established parameters of gender justice.
- According to Article 11(2b), a person born to a father or a mother with Nepalese citizenship can get citizenship by descent.
- Another article says a person who is born to a Nepalese mother (who has lived in the country) and an unidentified father will also get citizenship by descent.
- But this section appears humiliating for a mother as she has to declare that her husband is unidentified for the child to be eligible for citizenship.
- In case of a Nepalese father, such declarations are not required.
Why has the President refused to sign the Act?
- Bhandari is the first female President of Nepal.
- Her refusal to sign the Act has drawn attention to certain sections in the constitution that thrusts greater responsibility on women.
- For example, Article 11 (5) says that a person who is born to a Nepalese mother and an unidentified father can be granted citizenship by descent.
- Next, it says that in case the unidentified father turns out to be a foreigner, the citizenship by descent would be converted to naturalised citizenship.
- Furthermore, it supports punitive action against the mother if the father is found later.
Indian connection to the issue
- There is an unarticulated concern in the orthodox sections that Nepalese men, particularly from the Terai region, continue to marry women from northern India.
- These people feel that Nepalese identity would be undermined.
- Because of this “Beti-Roti” (Nepalese men marrying Indian women) issue, many women could not become citizens of Nepal.
- They were subjected to the infamous seven-year cooling off period before they could apply for citizenship in Nepal.
- As such women were stateless, children of such families were also often found to be without Nepalese citizenship.
- However, the new amendments have done away with the cooling off period for these stateless women.
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: West Seti Hydel Project
Mains level: India -Nepal Power Relations
India will be taking over an ambitious hydropower project in Nepal — West Seti — nearly four years after China withdrew from it, ending a six-year engagement between 2012 and 2018.
What is West Seti Hydel Project?
- The West Seti Dam is a proposed 750-megawatt (MW) hydroelectric dam on the Seti River in the Far-Western Development Region of Nepal.
- Particularly, it is a storage scheme designed to generate and export large quantities of electrical energy to India.
- The project is envisaged to provide Nepal 31.9% electricity free.
- Besides, locals affected by the project are being given a share of Nepali Rs 10 million plus 30 units of electricity per month free.
Why in news now?
- The project was earlier accorded to a Chinese company.
- But Nepal feared that India won’t buy power from China-executed projects.
Significance: India -Nepal Power Relations
- Nepal is rich in power sources with around 6,000 rivers and an estimated potential for 83,000 MW.
- India has formally approached Nepal on many occasions, seeking preferential rights over Nepali waters should it match offers coming from elsewhere.
- India is viewed as a feasible power market for Nepal.
- India has undertaken to harness or expressed intent to harness major rivers in the north.
Issues in project execution
- There has been some uncertainty in Nepal over India’s inability to deliver projects on time.
- An ambitious Mahakali treaty was signed back in 1996, to produce 6,480 MW, but India has still not been able to come out with the Detailed project Report.
- The Upper Karnali project, for which the multinational GMR signed the contract, has made no headway for years.
- Major reasons for stalling of these projects was a lack of consensus over power purchase agreement with India.
- Also, seismic sensitivity of the Himalayan Region is the prime consideration.
What has helped build faith recently?
- India under PM Modi has been successful in executing the 900-MW Arun Three Project in eastern Nepal’s Sankhuwa Sabha.
- After a standoff between Nepal and India led to the economic blockade of 2015, equations changed after Deuba took over last July, replacing Oli.
Benefits for Nepal
- Nepal has a massive power shortfall as it generates only around 900 MW against an installed capacity of nearly 2,000 MW.
- Although it is currently selling 364 MW power to India, it has over the years importing from India.
Hurdles from Nepal’s internal crisis
- Nepal’s Constitution has a provision under which any treaty or agreement with another country on natural resources will require Parliament’s ratification by at least a two-thirds majority.
- That will also mean homework will be required before any hydro project is signed and given for execution.
Way forward
- Until India agrees to value Nepal’s water and the existing focus on power is not reviewed, mutual distrust may continue.
- India must start executing its projects timely.
- And its success is expected to restore India’s image in Nepal and give it weightage in future considerations for hydropower projects, when competition is bound to be tough.
- West Seti, therefore, has the potential to be a defining model for Nepal India’s power relations in future.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)
Mains level: Paper 2-India-Nepal relation
Context
The Nepal Prime Minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba, paid a long-awaited visit to India last week (April 1-3). Sworn in in July 2021, this was his first bilateral visit abroad, in keeping with tradition.
Positive outcomes of the visit
- Among the highlights was the operationalisation of the 35 kilometre cross-border rail link from Jayanagar (Bihar) to Kurtha (Nepal).
- The second project that was inaugurated was the 90 km long 132 kV double circuit transmission line connecting Tila (Solukhumbu) to Mirchaiya (Siraha) close to the Indian border.
- In addition, agreements providing technical cooperation in the railway sector, Nepal’s induction into the International Solar Alliance, and between Indian Oil Corporation and Nepal Oil Corporation on ensuring regular supplies of petroleum products were also signed.
- The Mahakali Treaty covers the Sarada and Tanakpur barrages as well as the 6,700 MW (approximately) Pancheshwar Multipurpose project.
- Both sides have agreed to push for an early finalisation of the detailed project report.
- The joint vision statement on power sector cooperation recognises the opportunities for joint development power generation projects together with cross border transmission linkages and coordination between the national grids; it can provide the momentum.
Issues in India-Nepal relations
- Over the years, a number of differences have emerged between India and Nepal that need attention.
- The relationship took a nosedive in 2015, with India first getting blamed for interfering in the Constitution drafting process and then for an “unofficial blockade” that generated widespread resentment against India.
- Revision of Treaty of Peace and Friendship: As one of the oldest bonds, the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship was originally sought by the Nepali authorities in 1949 to continue the special links they had with British India.
- It provides for an open border and for Nepali nationals to have the right to work in India.
- But today, it is viewed as a sign of an unequal relationship, and an Indian imposition.
- The idea of revising and updating it has found mention in Joint Statements since the mid-1990s.
- Demonetisation is another irritant. In November 2016, India withdrew ₹15.44 trillion of high value (₹1,000 and ₹500) currency notes. Many Nepali nationals who were legally entitled to hold ₹25,000 of
- Indian currency (given that the Nepali rupee is pegged to the Indian rupee) were left high and dry.
- The Nepal Rashtra Bank, which is the central bank, holds ₹7 crore and estimates of public holdings are ₹500 crore.
- After more than five years, it should certainly be possible to resolve this to mutual satisfaction.
- Kalapani boundary issue: These boundaries had been fixed in 1816 by the British, and India inherited the areas over which the British had exercised territorial control in 1947.
- While 98% of the India-Nepal boundary was demarcated, two areas, Susta and Kalapani remained in limbo.
- In November 2019, India issued new maps following the division of the State of Jammu and Kashmir as Union Territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
- Though the new Indian map did not affect the India-Nepal boundary in any material way, a new map of Nepal was endorsed by the legislature through a constitutional amendment.
- While it did not alter the situation on the ground, it soured relations with India and added a new and emotive irritant.
Way forward
- The political narrative has changed in both countries and these issues can no longer be swept under the carpet or subsumed by invoking a ‘special relationship’.
- Part of the success of Mr. Deuba’s visit was that none of the differences was allowed to dominate the visit.
- Yet, to build upon the positive mood, it is necessary these issues be discussed, behind closed doors and at Track 2 and Track 1.5 channels.
Conclusion
The need today is to avoid rhetoric on territorial nationalism and lay the groundwork for quiet dialogue where both sides display sensitivity as they explore what is feasible. India needs to be a sensitive and generous partner for the “neighbourhood first” policy to take root.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: MVA, BBIN
Mains level: BBIN and its significance
With Bhutan continuing to sit out the Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) of the sub-regional Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) grouping, a meeting of the other three countries was held to discuss the next steps in operationalizing the agreement for the free flow of goods and people between them.
What is Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA)?
- India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh signed a Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) for the Regulation of Passenger, Personal and Cargo Vehicular Traffic among the four South Asian neighbours.
- It was signed on 15 June 2015 at the BBIN transport ministers meeting in Thimpu, Bhutan.
- The act will facilitate a way for a seamless movement of people and goods across their borders for the benefit and integration of the region and its economic development.
Key terms of the Agreement
- Trans-shipment of goods: Cargo vehicles will be able to enter any of the four nations without the need for trans-shipment of goods from one country’s truck to another’s at the border.
- Free transport: The agreement would permit the member states to ply their vehicles in each other’s territory for transportation of cargo and passengers, including third-country transport and personal vehicles.
- Electronic permit: As per the agreement each vehicle would require an electronic permit to enter another country’s territory, and border security arrangements between nations’ borders will also remain.
- Ultra-security: Vehicles are fitted with an electronic seal that alerts regulators every time the container door is opened.
Implementation status of the agreement
- The agreement will enter into force after it is ratified by all four member nations.
- The agreement has been ratified by Bangladesh, India and Nepal.
- The lower house of the Bhutanese parliament approved the agreement in early 2016, but it was rejected by the upper house in November 2016.
- Bhutan has requested for a cap to be fixed on the number of vehicles entering its territory
What next?
- India remains “hopeful” that Bhutan could change its position on the project, it was decided at a meeting in November 2021 to go ahead for now, given that there are no new signals from Thimphu on the project.
- Progress on the seven-year-old project has been slow, despite several trial runs being held along the Bangladesh-India-Nepal road route for passenger buses and cargo trucks.
- There are still some agreements holding up the final protocols.
Back2Basics: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN)
- BBIN Initiative is a sub-regional architecture of countries in Eastern South Asia, a sub-region of South Asia.
- The group meets through the official representation of member states to formulate, implement and review quadrilateral agreements across areas such as water resources management, connectivity of power, transport, and infrastructure.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: MCC
Mains level: Chinese influence in Nepal
Nepal’s House of Representatives has ratified 500 million US Dollar grant assistance-Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) pact along with the “interpretative declaration”.
What is Millenium Challenge Corporation?
- The MCC was founded in 2004 as a US foreign aid agency that acts in accordance with governments that have demonstrated a commitment to good governance, economic freedom, and citizen investment.
- It was envisioned as an organisation that would follow the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness’ key principles.
- MCC works with countries that have been identified as being eligible for assistance to develop programmes that are based on MCC’s purpose of decreasing poverty via economic growth.
- MCC’s results framework, which is based on the fourth and fifth principles of the Paris Declaration, Results and Mutual Accountability.
- It provides a framework for applying the agency’s rigorous methods for projecting, tracking, and evaluating the effects of its programmes.
- MCC uses this framework to address basic questions about aid effectiveness.
Investments made by MCC
- Compact and threshold programmes are the two types of programmes in which MCC invests.
- Compacts are large, five-year grants implemented by an accountable entity established by each partner nation.
- Thresholds are smaller funds focusing on policy and institutional transformation in selected countries implemented by MCC.
The background of the project
- MCC’s partnership with Nepal began in 2011, when the country requested assistance.
- MCC first chose Nepal for a smaller threshold grant, and subsequently in December 2014, for a larger compact.
- Three years later, in September 2017, the MCC-Nepal compact was signed, with the US committing $500 million and Nepal committing $130 million.
- Nepal is expected to generate an electricity infrastructure with 400kVA transmission lines through the MCC project, which will be used to distribute power both domestically and to India.
- Furthermore, the MCC’s implementation could boost the Nepalese economy by increasing employment possibilities and increasing per capita income.
Issues with the project
- It is estimated that if the agreement is not passed by Parliament, the power producers in the country are likely to lose a staggering Rs. 142 billion every year.
- As a result, PM Sher Bahadur Deuba is striving to get the MCC passed in Parliament as soon as possible, even if it means splitting the coalition government.
- In addition, if he fails to get it through Parliament, there is a possible risk of losing his international credibility.
America vs China: Objections around MCC
- The MCC agreement has created a political divide in Nepal.
- The compact has been criticised in Nepal as endangering the country’s sovereignty, integrity, and constitutional autonomy.
- The claim that the MCC agreement supersedes the national charter and shall prevail over Nepal’s domestic laws.
- Many have interpreted this to suggest that the compact replaces the constitution, compromising Nepal’s sovereignty.
- The MCC’s inclusion in the Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS) is considered problematic for Nepal, as the majority of the country’s political class views the US strategy as anti-China.
India’s role in the ongoing political crisis in Nepal
- Few claim that the electricity generated by MCC will be only for export to India and will not be for the local public.
- As a result, it will not benefit the local economy directly.
- Nepal’s hydroelectric generation potential is huge, with over 6,000 large and small rivers.
- However, through a series of barrages and dams, India has control over the majority of Nepal’s major rivers.
- Nationalists in the Himalayan country have strongly objected to this.
- In Nepal, where India is still perceived as a meddling big brother, its goal of strengthening India’s military capabilities through this agreement to counter China’s was questioned.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Rivers mentioned
Mains level: Floods in Bihar
Over the years, many of Bihar’s districts have been facing serious challenges with recurrent and massive flooding. It is the right time to look at some of the key aspects of India-Nepal flood management.
Simultaneous floods in Bihar and Nepal
- Some of Nepal’s biggest river systems originate in the Himalayan glaciers which then flow into India through Bihar.
- During the monsoons, these river systems flood causing many problems for Bihar.
- It is a necessity that there is process-driven coordination between the Centre and the Government of Bihar to handle the flooding in Nepal’s Terai and North Bihar (largely the Mithilanchal region).
Which are those flooding rivers?
- Nepal’s three biggest river systems—Kosi, Gandaki and Karnali—originate in the high mountain glaciers, flow through the country and then enter India through the state of Bihar.
- During the monsoon season, these river systems often get flooded due to heavy rains/landslides in Nepal which create floods in India’s most flood prone state—Bihar.
Bihar’s vulnerability
- The history of floods in Bihar from 1998 to 2012 reveals how strong discharges of water due to heavy rains in the catchment areas of Nepal have created a strong pressure on the river embankments in India.
- About 76 per cent of the population living in northern Bihar live under threat of floods due to these river systems and a total of 73.06 per cent of the total geographical area of Bihar is flood affected (mostly during the monsoon).
Measures: Joint flood management program
- As part of the long-term measures to address the problem of massive and recurrent floods in Bihar, the Joint Project Office (JPO), Biratnagar, was established in Nepal in August 2004.
- It aimed to prepare a detailed project report to construct a high dam on the Nepal side (on the Kosi, Kamla and Bagmati rivers).
Flaws: Yet to get effect
- Despite the best efforts made by the Government of Bihar, the task remains unaccomplished even after 17 years.
- The Government of Bihar has raised the matter at regular intervals for this.
Who is the obstructionist? : Fault lies with Nepal
- The Central Water Commission (CWC) has convened several meetings with Nepali Authorities.
- However, what is evident is Nepal’s lack of prompt reciprocation.
- India has long-standing water sharing issues with Nepal.
What has been done so far?
- As in the figures shared by Bihar, a total of four new flood protection works in the Gandak basin area were proposed before the floods of 2020.
- There were proposed Barrage structures located in the border districts.
Nepal’s reluctance
- However, Nepal argues that many of the bund area falls into no man’s land along the open international border.
- This is notwithstanding the fact that the embankment was built by India 30 years ago and there has not been any dispute regarding its maintenance all these years.
What does this signify?
- There is a need for India-Nepal collaboration for an efficiently operated barrage.
- It is evident that Nepal’s attitude towards mutual issues (water sharing, flood control, etc.) has been short of collaboration, unlike in the past.
Way forward
- In the best spirit of friendship, Nepal and India should restart the water dialogue and come up with policies to safeguard the interests of all those who have been affected on both sides of the border.
- It is time the two friendly countries come together and assess the factors that are causing unimaginable losses through flooding every year.
- Optimisation of the infrastructure will be decisive in finding an alternative paradigm of flood management.
- By controlling the flooding and using the water resources for common developmental uses such as hydroelectricity, irrigation and waterways, India-Nepal relations can be strengthened even further.
- Moreover, it is also linked to how the Himalayan glaciers and the green cover are managed.
Conclusion
- Water resources are priceless assets.
- Water cooperation should drive the next big India-Nepal dialogue, and despite the challenges, wisdom should prevail to turn the crisis into an opportunity, for the sake of development and environmental protection.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Engage with Nepal without intervening
The article suggests recalibration of India’s approach towards political turmoil in Nepal.
Nepal in political crisis
- For the second time in weeks, Prime Minister K P Oli has persuaded President Bidya Devi Bhandari to dissolve parliament and call for fresh elections.
- That is, unless the Supreme Court decides to declare the dissolution of parliament as unconstitutional, as it had done in the recent past.
- The current dissolution has been challenged in the court by five political parties.
Medhesi demand fulfilled
- Prime Minister Oli has also delivered on the longstanding Madhesi demand to reverse a constitutional provision which denied citizenship to children born of Nepali mothers who had foreign husbands.
- The widespread unrest in the Terai adjoining India in 2015 was triggered by this attempt to deny equal rights to the Madhesi population.
- This provision had directly targeted the Madhesi population, which has close kinship and marital ties across the border with India.
- While this provision has now been removed through a presidential ordinance, it could well be reversed in future by Nepali political parties dominated by the higher caste.
Steps India needs to take
- Political uncertainty in a neighbouring country is never good news for India, particularly in Nepal with whom we share a long and open border.
- The Indian government has maintained a studied silence on the current political developments in Nepal and this may be the right thing to do.
- But this silence should not imply the lack of a proper assessment of the political situation in Nepal and what would serve the interests of India best.
- Following are the steps India need to take:
1) India should declare it does not support the revival of monarchy
- The abolition of the monarchy is a net gain for India and the government must firmly and unambiguously declare that it does not support the revival of the monarchy, which has already been rejected by its people.
- India should declare its unconditional support to Nepal’s republican democracy.
2) Remain engaged with Nepal
- India should remain fully engaged with Nepal at all levels and across the political spectrum.
- The safeguarding of India’s vital interests demands such sustained engagement.
- A hands-off policy will only create space for other external influences, some of which, like China, may prove to be hostile.
- However, engagement must dispense with the recurrent tendency to label Nepali political leaders as friends or enemies.
- India should advocate policies rather than persons.
3) Recognise the role of Madhesi population
- In India’s engagement with Nepal, the Terai belt and its large Madhesi population plays a critical and indispensable role.
- In an effort to win over the Kathmandu political and social elite, one should be careful not to neglect citizens living in the plains.
- Our engagement with Nepal must find an important place for Nepali citizens who are our immediate neighbours and act as a kinship, cultural and religious bridge between our two countries.
4) Appreciate people-to-people link
- India needs to appreciate that the people-to-people links between our two countries have an unmatched density and no other country, including China, enjoys this asset.
- The challenge to our Nepal policy lies in leveraging this precious asset to ensure a stable and mutually-productive state-to-state relationship.
- India has every reason to approach its relations with Nepal with confidence and assurance.
Consider the question “What are the factors that make India-Nepal relationship special? What are the recent challenges impacting this special relationship? ”
Conclusion
The safeguarding of India’s vital interests demands India’s engagement with Nepal without intervening in its politics. A hands-off policy will only create space for other external influences.
India-Nepal Joint Commission meeting took place at a time when Nepal in going through a political turmoil. The article examines the issues discussed in the meeting and how its implications for the bilateral relations between the two countries.
India-Nepal joint commission meeting amid political chaos in Nepal
- Recently, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal visited New Delhi for the sixth meeting of the India-Nepal Joint Commission.
- Nepal’s Prime Minister dissolved the House of Representatives in late December 2020, the move was termed ‘unconstitutional’ by the experts and the country’s Supreme Court is hearing writ petitions against the move.
- As a unique characteristic, Nepal’s internal political fundamentals continue to shape its foreign policy choices.
- In such a scenario, any inbound or outbound delegation is seen from a different prism.
Issues discussed in the meeting
1) Progress on the development partnership front
- On the development partnership front, the expansion of the Motihari-Amlekhganj petroleum products pipelines to Chitwan and the establishment of a new pipeline on the eastern side connecting Siliguri to Jhapa in Nepal formed a part of the discussions.
- The operating procedures for commencement of train services of the first passenger railway line between India and Nepal from Jaynagar to Kurtha via Janakpurhave have been discussed.
- Other cross-border rail connectivity projects, including a possible Raxaul-Kathmandu broad gauge railway line, were also discussed.
- The joint hydropower projects, including the proposed Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project, should get positive momentum following this round of meetings.
2) Facilitating the cross-border movement of people
- The recently inaugurated Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) at Birgunj and Biratnagar have helped in the seamless movement of people and trade between the two countries.
- The construction of a third integrated check post at Nepalgunj has already commenced, while the new integrated check post at Bhairahwa would begin shortly.
- Since Nepal relies on India’s seaports in a big way for trading, and goods are transported by road, the integrated check posts are expected to ease trade and transit.
3) Border issue
- Nepali side’s demand to include the boundary in the Joint Commission Meeting.
- However, India made it clear to find a fresh mechanism to resolve any such crucial long-pending issue.
4) New direction to bilateral ties
- India’s support for two more cultural heritage projects in Nepal, namely, the Pashupatinath Riverfront Development and the Bhandarkhal Garden Restoration in Patan Durbar is significant.
- Nepal expressed support for India’s permanent membership of an expanded UN Security Council (UNSC) to reflect the changed balance of power.
- The next meeting of the Joint Commission in Nepal should be crucial in giving a new direction to the bilateral ties, keeping a balance between change and continuity.
India’s deepening engagement with all sections
- There is growing disenchantment among the Nepali masses over the increased centralization of power, failure of the Provincial System in addressing the developmental issues, misuse of Presidential authority, and unprecedented corruption.
- While the unusual developments are taking place in Nepal, there are many who still think that India is comfortable with some changes as its Nepal policy is heading very clearly towards a deeper engagement with all sections.
Consider the question “How India-Nepal ties are affected by the internal political fundamentals in Nepal? What approach should be adopted by India in dealing with Nepal?”
Conclusion
Nepal cannot afford to enter into another round of political instability, and those who have commanding authority to spearhead India-Nepal bilateral relations must give a humane consideration to it. At the crossroads, Nepal needs action and to come to terms with realities.
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Kalapani Region
Mains level: India-Nepal Border Issues
Nepal has raised the Kalapani boundary dispute with India during the Joint Commission meeting of the Foreign Ministers.
Q.The India-Nepal bilateral relations these days are increasingly seen through the lens of China factor. Examine.
Kalapani Boundary Issue
- Mapped within Uttarakhand is a 372-sq km area called Kalapani, bordering far-west Nepal and Tibet.
- A treaty signed between Nepal and British India in 1816 determined the Makhali river, that runs through Kalapani, as the boundary between the two neighbours.
- The Treaty of Sugauli concluded between British India and the Kingdom of Nepal in the year 1816, maps the Makhali River as the western boundary with India.
- But different British maps showed the source of the tributary at different places which were mainly due to underdeveloped and less-defined surveying techniques used at that time.
- However, the river has many tributaries that meet at Kalapani. For this reason, India claims that the river begins at Kalapani but Nepal says that it begins from Lipu Lekh pass, which is the source of most of its tributaries.
- While the Nepal government and political parties have protested, India has said the new map does not revise the existing boundary with Nepal.
- India claims that the river begins at Kalapani but Nepal says that it begins from Lipu Lekh pass, which is the source of most of its tributaries.
Legal Dimension of Issue
According to International Laws, the principles of avulsion and accretion are applicable in determining the borders when a boundary river changes course.
- Avulsion: It is the pushing back of the shoreline by sudden, violent action of the elements, perceptible while in progress. Also, it can be defined as the sudden and perceptible change in the land brought about by water, which may result in the addition or removal of land from a bank or shoreline.
- Accretion: It is the process of growth or enlargement by a gradual buildup. It is the natural, slow and gradual deposit of soil by the water.
If the change of the river course is rapid – by avulsion – the boundary does not change. But if the river changes course gradually – that is, by accretion – the boundary changes accordingly.
Since, the Gandak change, of course, has been gradual, India claimed Susta as part of their territory as per international laws.
- On several occasions, India has tried to resolve the issue through friendly and peaceful negotiations, but the Nepali leadership has always shown hesitation in resolving the issue.
- In Nepal, the issue has become a tool for arousing strong public sentiment against India. Therefore, resolving the issue may not be in the best interest of Nepal’s domestic politics.
Significance for India
- The Lipu Lekh pass serves strategic importance for India as a key point to monitor Chinese troop movement.
- The link road via Lipulekh Himalayan Pass is also considered one of the shortest and most feasible trade routes between India and China.
- The Nepalese reaction would probably have triggered in response to Chinese assertion.
An undefined boundary claimed by Nepal
- Nepal’s western boundary with India was marked out in the Treaty of Sugauli between the East India Company and Nepal in 1816.
- Nepali authorities claim that people living in the low-density area were included in the Census of Nepal until 58 years ago.
- Five years ago, Nepali Foreign Minister had claimed that the late King Mahendra “handed over the territory to India”.
- By some accounts in Nepal, this allegedly took place in the wake of India-China War of 1962.
Must read:
[Burning Issue] India-Nepal Border Row
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Recalibrating India-Nepal ties
The article suggests the need for a relook at the India-Nepal ties in the changing geopolitical circumstances.
Unchanging perspective on of each other
- Many in Nepal continue to equate being anti-India with being nationalistic.
- Politicians and political parties whip up such sentiment especially before an election.
- Prime Minister K.P. Oli won the 2017 election partly because he projected himself as someone who stood up to India during the blockade.
- He again whipped up nationalistic sentiments when he got the Nepal map amended to add new territory.
- India continues to think that by providing aid and development projects in Nepal, it can win Nepali hearts.
- But despite pouring billions of rupees into Nepal over decades, it has still not been able to do so.
- Therefore, it needs to reflect on what it is not doing right.
India’s aid Vs Chines aid to Nepal
- Two issues are important to understand here.
- First, all aid to Nepal from countries other than India and China go through the Plans of the Government of Nepal.
- Indian aid is seen in Nepal as a favour bestowed on a constituency it wants to garner support from rather than a contribution to Nepal’s planned development.
- Second, India competes with China in providing aid outside government budgets.
- And China picks up projects of visibility and strategic location.
- Chinese involvement in Nepal has increased since the April 2015 earthquake and Nepal is surely an area of strategic influence in China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
People-to-people ties
- In the past two decades, two significant changes have happened.
- 1) Indian workers in Nepal constitute a big part of the workforce and send about $3 billion to India every year.
- In terms of remittances to India, Nepal ranks eighth.
- So, the Government of India needs to keep in mind that many households in India are being run with remittances from Nepal.
- 2) Nepalis have migrated in the past 20 years to more than a hundred countries; India is not the only country that Nepalis rely on for jobs or education.
- This is a new Nepal comprising young people with global aspirations.
- Meanwhile, Nepal needs to plan how it engages with the youth in mainland India for whom Nepal is just like Bangladesh or Myanmar.
Consider the question “The unchanging perspective of each other in both countries calls for the recalibration of India-Nepal ties. Examine the factors that India should consider while having a relook at its ties with Nepal”
Conclusion
There are some fundamentals that we simply cannot forget: geography will not change, the border will remain open as millions of livelihoods on both sides depend on it, and China is going to be a big global player with varied interests in the neighbourhood. Therefore, the India-Nepal relationship has to be recalibrated.
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Treaty of Sagauli
Mains level: Paper 2- India-Nepal relations
Unilateral actions by Nepal
- Minor dispute involving territory around the Kalapani springs, was expanded to claim a large wedge of Indian territory towards the east, measuring nearly 400 square kilometres.
- The expanded claim was incorporated into Nepal through a constitutional amendment and a revised official map.
Future course of action
- India should be willing to engage in talks with Nepal on all aspects of India-Nepal relations.
- But any talks on the Kalapani issue should be limited to the area which was the original subject for negotiations and Susta.
- Borders which have been accepted by both sides for more than 100 years and which have also been reflected on their official maps cannot be unilaterally altered by one side coming up with archival material which has surfaced in the meantime.
- This would make national boundaries unstable and shifting, and create avoidable controversies between countries as is the case now between India and Nepal.
Some historical background
- The Treaty of Sugauli of 1816 sets the Kali river as the boundary between the two countries.
- There was no map attached to the treaty.
- Nepal is now claiming that the main tributary of the Kalapani river rises east of the Lipu Lekh pass from the Limpiyadhura ridgeline and hence should serve as the border.
- Even if the lengthiest tributary may be one principle for a riverine boundary, it is not the only one.
- There are many boundaries which do not follow any geographical principle at all but are the result of historical circumstances, mutual agreement and legal recognition.
- British surveys of the region consistently showed the India-Nepal border heading due north of Kalapani springs.
- This alignment never changed in subsequent years and was also reflected in Nepali official maps.
- It has been argued by Nepal that it was the East India Company and successor governments “cartographic chicanery” to shift the source of the Kali river towards the east.
- But Nepali government never contested such actions.
- In 1969, the then Prime Minister of Nepal demanded that India military personnel manning 17 villages along the Nepal-Tibet border since the early 1950s be withdrawn.
- If Lipu Lekh and Kalapani were on Nepali territory then why were they omitted from the list?
- The Chinese, at least since 1954, have accepted Lipu Lekh Pass as being in Indian territory.
- In the Nepal-China boundary agreement of 1960, the starting point of the boundary is clearly designated at a point just west of the Tinker Pass.
Consider the question “Nepal’s newfound aspiration has led to the introduction of friction in India-Nepal ties, what is needed is recognition of each others’ concerns. Comment.”
Conclusion
For India, more than the exemplary inter-state relationship, it is the unique people-to-people relations between India and Nepal; and, fortunately, inter-state relations have been unable to undermine the dense affinities that bind our peoples together. While India should reject the Nepali state’s ill-conceived territorial claims, it should do everything to nurture the invaluable asset it has in the goodwill of the people of Nepal.
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Ex. Surya Kiran
Mains level: India-Nepal military ties
Soldiers from Nepal form a significant part of the Indian Army’s legendary Gurkha regiment. Here is a brief explainer on the origin and evolution of these ties.
Practice question for mains:
Q.“India has special and time-tested military ties with Nepal”. Analyse.
India’s military ties with Nepal: The origin
- India’s military connection with the Himalayan country goes back to the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh whose army in Lahore enlisted Nepalese soldiers called Lahure or soldiers of fortune.
- British India raised the first battalion of the Gurkha Regiment as the Nasiri regiment on April 24, 1815.
- By the time the First World War started, there were 10 Gurkha regiments in the British Indian Army.
- When India got freedom, these regiments were divided between the British and Indian armies as per the Britain–India–Nepal Tripartite Agreement signed in November 1947.
- Six Gurkha regiments with a lakh-odd soldier came to India, which went on to raise another regiment called 11 Gurkha Rifles who chose not to transfer to the British Army.
Can Nepali citizens join the Indian Army?
- Yes, any Nepali can join the Indian Army, both as a jawan and as an officer.
- A citizen of Nepal can take the NDA or CDS exams and join the Indian Army as an officer.
- Col Lalit Rai, who received a Vir Chakra for the bravery of his battalion, the 1/11 Gurkha Rifles, during the Kargil war, is one such officer of Nepalese descent.
- The Nepalese army also sends its officers for training to India’s military academies and combat colleges.
Do the soldiers from Nepal enjoy the same rights as the Indian troops?
- Yes, they enjoy the same benefits as the India troops both during service and after retirement.
- They get the same medical facilities as the Indian soldiers, and often medical teams from the Indian Army tour Nepal.
- Unlike the British, who started giving the Nepalese soldiers pension only a few years ago, the Indian Army has never discriminated against the Nepalese soldiers, who can avail of healthcare facilities in India as well.
- The Indian Army also runs welfare projects in Nepal villages, including small water and power projects.
The honorary chief of the Nepalese army
- Yes, this convention dates back to 1972 when then Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, a Gurkha regiment officer, fondly called Sam Bahadur by his troops, was made the honorary chief of the Nepalese army.
- Ever since the Army chief of India is the honorary chief of the Nepalese army and vice-versa.
Joint exercises
- Joint military exercise ‘SURYA KIRAN is an annual event which is conducted alternatively in Nepal and India.
- It is an important exercise in terms of the security challenges faced by both nations in the realm of changing facets of global terrorism.
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Indian states sharing border with Nepal
Mains level: Paper 2- India-Nepal ties and border issue
Of late, India’s bilateral relations with Nepal has been going south. The latest trigger has been the changes made by Nepal in the map. This article explores the transformation of Nepal and its impact on India-Nepal relations. Despite the efforts by Nepal to explore the options beyond India, ties are still robust between the two countries and this is reflected in more than one ways.
Let’s map the changes in Nepal with one constant factor: nationalism
1. Democracy
- The obvious change in Nepal is that it is now a democratic republic after nearly 250 years of being a monarchy.
- The Nepali Congress and Maoist leader, Prachanda, claim democracy (1990) and the abolition of monarchy (2008) as their legacies.
2. Societal change due to exposure to globalisation
- More pervasive is the societal change from Nepal’s exposure to globalisation.
- Geography, too, stands to change, with the Chinese now having the potential to bore through the Himalayas and exhibiting their presence in Kathmandu in economics and politics.
3. Nationalism
- The constant in Nepal is nationalism which is really a mask for anti-India sentiment.
- Politicians use it for personal gain, and it is deeply ingrained in the bureaucracy, academia and the media.
- Today, Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli is cementing his legacy as a nationalist by extending Nepal’s map into Indian territory.
- The cartographic aggression and the embedding of the new map in the country’s national emblem and Constitution are untenable and should have been avoided under all circumstances.
- In 2015, the Nepali Congress government adopted the new Constitution, ignoring India’s concerns.
4. Identity politics
- Identity politics with India is also visible within the country.
- Nepali citizens from the Terai (Madhesis) feel discriminated as being “Indian”.
To Nepal, their attitudes reflect the angst of a small state. To India, Nepal appears incorrigible.
Let’s understand how globalisation changed Nepal
- After democracy was restored in 1990, passports were more liberally issued, and Nepalis began looking for work opportunities globally, beyond just India.
- West Asia and South-East Asia specifically became major destinations for labour migration.
- Security uncertainties with the Maoist insurgency at home also propelled the trend of migration.
- Students and skilled personnel began moving to Europe, the United States, Australia, Thailand and even to Japan and South Korea.
- As of 2019, nearly a fifth of Nepal’s population, from all parts of the country, were reportedly overseas.
- At an estimated $8 billion, global remittances account for nearly 30% of Nepal’s nominal GDP.
- This makes Nepal one of the most remittance-dependent countries in the world.
- Leftist ideology and the prominent presence of international non-governmental organisations — ostensibly there to resolve conflict and alleviate poverty — have added to Nepal’s exposure to the world.
- Nepal’s 2011 Census shows that over 80% of its 28 million-strong population were Hindus, and since 1962, it had formally been a Hindu kingdom.
- The new Constitution in 2015 makes Nepal a secular country.
- The proliferation of communication technology has also spread a certain cosmopolitanism but without the accompanying metropolitanism.
Nepal exploring options beyond India
- Kathmandu has continued its long-standing efforts to spread Nepal’s options beyond India.
- Multilateral development banks are by far the biggest lenders and players in the country’s development efforts.
- And in fact, one of Nepal’s largest aid donors is the European Union.
- India and China are not the only players for big projects either.
- A long-delayed project to pipe water into Kathmandu was with an Italian company.
- Major investments in the telecom sector are coming from Malaysia, and the largest international carrier in Nepal is Qatar Airways.
Weakening of natural bond and responsible factors
- The outward movement of students, along with with the growth of institutions of higher learning at home, has meant that most young people in Nepal, including emerging contemporary leaders in politics, business or academics, have not studied in India.
- This lack of common collegiate roots removes a natural bond of previous generations that had provided for better understanding and even empathy.
- While most Nepalis understand Hindi, because of the popularity of Bollywood, articulation is quite another matter.
Robust ties with India, despite diversification
- Despite Nepal’s efforts to diversify its options globally, its linkages with India remain robust.
- Nepal’s trade with India has grown in absolute terms and continues to account for more than two-thirds of Nepal’s external trade of around $12 billion annually.
- This clearly reflects the advantages of geography, both physical and societal.
- India continues to be the largest aggregate investor in Nepal.
- The massive under-construction Arun-III 900 MW hydro-electric project is slated to singly produce as much power, when completed in five years, as Nepal produces today.
- Moreover, the peg with the Indian Rupee provides unique stability to the Nepali Rupee.
Unique advantage to Nepal
- Nepal’s per-capita income is just above $1,000.
- While the huge remittance economy has brought a semblance of well-being, the country has a long way to go in reaching prosperity.
- The relationship with India, with open borders and Nepalis being allowed to live and work freely, provides Nepal a unique advantage and an economic cushion.
- The latter is particularly important today with COVID-19-caused global contraction positioned to pop the remittance bubble.
- Neither the Chinese nor any others are likely to write blank cheques.
- India for its part should also focus on developing its border areas with Nepal, with better roads and amenities of interest (such as shopping malls) to the burgeoning Nepali middle class.
- This would have economic plusses for both sides and keep ties strong at the people’s level. It would also be an image makeover.
Consider the question “Despite intermittent disagreements over certain issues, India-Nepal ties remain robust. In light of this, elaborate on the ties between the two countries and suggest ways to find the solution to the latest border dispute between the two countries.”
Conclusion
It is important that we update the prism through which we view our relationship with our Himalayan neighbour. We must not forget the past nor turn away from it but, instead, must be mindful of the realities of a changing India and a changing Nepal.
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Treaty of Sugauli-1816
Mains level: Paper 2- India-Nepal relations
This article helps us understand Nepal’s perspective of the India-Nepal border dispute. Though the issue dates back to India’s independence, it came to dominate the political landscape in Nepal since 1990s. But there is no solution in sight. So, what makes the issue complex? Read to know…
What the border dispute between two countries is about?
- The inauguration of the “new road to Mansarovar” on May 8 by India’s defence minister has strained the relations between Nepal and India.
- Nepal claims that a section of the road passes through the territory of Nepal and links with the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China through the Lipu Lekh pass in Nepal.
- The 1816 Sugauli Treaty between Nepal and British India placed all the territories east of the Kali (Mahakali) river, including Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipu Lekh at the northwestern front of Nepal, on its side.
- The borders of Nepal, India and China intersect in this area.
- Given the situation in 1961, Nepal and China fixed pillar number one at Tinker pass with the understanding that pillar number zero (the tri-junction of Nepal, India, and China) would be fixed later.
- Lipu Lekh pass is 4 km northwest and Limpiyadhura 53 km west of Tinker pass.
No progress on the solution of the issue
- The dispute over the Kalapani area has spanned the last seven decades.
- Both Nepal and India have recognised it as an outstanding border issue requiring an optimal resolution.
- When in August 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Nepal in 17 years, Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala raised this issue again.
- The two prime ministers agreed to resolve the issue on a priority basis and directed their foreign secretaries “to work on the outstanding boundary issues including Kalapani and Susta”.
- There was virtually no progress on the ground.
Nepal’s objection to India-China agreement
- In May 2015, Prime Minister Modi visited China, and the two countries agreed to “enhance border areas cooperation”.
- The May 2015 agreement is a broad one compared to the 1954 India-China agreement “on trade and intercourse between Tibet Region of China and India”, which mentions Lipu Lekh pass as one of the six passes “through which traders and pilgrims of both countries may travel”.
- Nepal protested against the inclusion of its territory, Lipu Lekh, in the joint statement without its consent and demanded that the two countries make necessary corrections to reflect the ground realities.
- The protest was ignored.
Growing nationalism and distrust let to the deterioration of relations
- The tone of Nepal-India relations appears to be dominated by frustrations of the past and traditional attitudes more than the opportunities of the future.
- The widening gap in understanding each other’s concerns has helped feed Nepali nationalism and create a dense cloud of distrust and suspicion between the two countries.
- The gap widened after India chose to impose an economic blockade in response to Nepal’s sovereign decision to promulgate a democratic constitution.
- The current ruling Communist Party of Nepal made people’s anger over the blockade its campaign plank during the 2017 general election.
What makes the border issues complex and difficult to solve?
- Complexity of the issue stems from the fact that the political leadership handles only a small part of this very important bilateral relationship.
- India as a big neighbour is rarely seen grasping the psychological dimensions of the relationship.
- Officials handling these multifaceted relations may momentarily influence the atmospherics but they rarely touch the core of these relations, let alone reorient or transform them in the rapidly changing context.
- This is manifest in the deferring of substantive conversations on the outstanding boundary issue for decades.
- The foreign secretary level mechanism has not met even once to discuss the border issue since its formation.
- There are over three dozen bilateral mechanisms between Nepal and India to engage at various levels.
- The meetings of these mechanisms are rarely regular.
Consider the question “The India-Nepal border dispute looks minor, but allowing it to fester is likely to sow the seeds of immense competition and intense rivalry in the sensitive Himalayan frontier with far-reaching geopolitical implications. Comment.”
Conclusion
Geography, history, and economy make Nepal and India natural partners, sharing vital interest in each other’s freedom, integrity, dignity, security and progress. People-to-people relations are unique strengths of bilateral relations. India, for it’s part and in the spirit of its ‘neighbourhood first’ policy, must start a solution-oriented dialogue and find the solution to the dispute.
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Treaty of Peace and Friendship between India and Nepal
Mains level: Paper 2-India-Nepal border issue
A new map released by Nepal delivered a blow to the India-Nepal relations. But this is hardly the first time this has happened. The article clears some cobwebs about Nepal’s foreign policy. First, it throws light on the past trend set by Nepal. And drawing on the past experience, it suggests the changes India should adopt in new framework to deal with Nepal.
Nepal’s new map: Yet another knock on India-Nepal relations
- As the parliament in Nepal gets ready to approve a new map that will include parts of Indian territory in Uttarakhand, Delhi is bracing for yet another knock to a bilateral relationship.
- Many in the Indian strategic community believe that the train wreck was avoidable.
- But others view the collision between Delhi and Kathmandu as both inevitable and imminent.
- Even if the territorial issue had been finessed, something else would have triggered the breakdown.
Bigger fissures in relation
- A closer look suggests that the territorial dispute is merely a symptom of the structural changes.
- These structural changes are unfolding in the external and internal context of the bilateral relationship.
- The question, then, is not what Delhi could have done to prevent the current crisis.
- It should be about looking ahead to build more sustainable ties with Kathmandu.
2 factors India must consider and depart from
- Any new framework for engaging Kathmandu must involve two important departures from the past in Delhi.
- 1) First is coming to terms with Nepal’s natural politics of balance.
- 2) The other is the recognition that Delhi’s much-vaunted “special relationship” with Kathmandu is part of the problem.
Let’s look at the history of Nepal’s geopolitics
- The founder of the modern Nepali state, Prithvi Narayan Shah, described Nepal as a “yam between two rocks”.
- He was pointing to the essence of Nepal’s geographic condition between the dominant power in the Gangetic plains on the one hand and Tibet and the Qing empire on the other.
- Contrary to the conventional wisdom in India, China has long been part of Kathmandu’s international relations.
- As the East India Company gained ground at the turn of the 19th century, Nepal’s rulers made continuous offers to Beijing to act as China’s frontline against Calcutta’s expansion into the Himalayas.
- Kathmandu also sought to build a coalition of Indian princes to counter the Company.
- Even after it lost the first Anglo-Nepal war in 1816, Kathmandu kept up a continuous play between Calcutta and Beijing.
- As the scales tilted in the Company’s favour after the First Opium War (1839-42), Nepal’s rulers warmed up to Calcutta.
- When the 1857 Mutiny shook the Company, Kathmandu backed it and regained some of the territories it lost when the Raj replaced the Company.
- As the fortunes of the Raj rose, Kathmandu rulers enjoyed the benefits of being Calcutta’s protectorate.
- India inherited this framework but has found it impossible to sustain.
Why the Treaty of Peace and Friendship (1950) lost its appeal?
- The 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship gave the illusion of continuity in Nepal’s protectorate relationship with the Raj and its successor, independent India.
- That illusion was continuously chipped away amid the rise of mass politics in Nepal, growing Nepali nationalism, and Kathmandu’s acquisition of an international personality.
- The 1950 Treaty, which proclaims an “everlasting friendship” between the two nations, has become the symbol of Indian hegemony in Nepal.
- In a paradox, its security value for India has long been hollowed out.
- It is a political millstone around India’s neck that Delhi is unwilling to shed for the fear of losing the “special relationship”.
- Delhi has been trapped into a perennial political play among Kathmandu’s different factions and responding to Nepal’s China card.
Weakening of “special relationship”: Essence of Nepal’s foreign policy
- Once the Chinese Communist Party consolidated its power in Tibet and offered assurances to Nepal, Kathmandu’s balancing impulses were back in play.
- At the risk of oversimplification, Nepal’s foreign policy since the 1950s has, in essence, been about weakening the “special relationship” with India and building more cooperation with China.
- Kathmandu has used different labels to package its desire for greater room for manoeuvre between its two giant neighbours — non-alignment, diversification, “zone of peace”, equidistance, and a Himalayan bridge between India and China.
- The stronger China has become, the wider have Kathmandu’s options with India become.
Way forward
- It makes no sense for Delhi to hanker after a “special relationship” that a large section of Kathmandu does not want.
- If Delhi wants a normal and good neighbourly relationship with Kathmandu, it should put all major bilateral issues on the table for renegotiation.
- Such issues should include the 1950 treaty, national treatment to Nepali citizens in India, trade and transit arrangements, the open border and visa-free travel.
- Delhi should make it a priority to begin talks with Nepal on revising, replacing, or simply discarding the 1950 treaty.
- It should negotiate a new set of mutually satisfactory arrangements.
- India had conducted a similar exercise with Bhutan to replace the 1949 treaty during 2006-07.
- The issues and political context are certainly more complicated in the case of Nepal.
- It is better that Delhi bites the bullet and makes a fresh beginning with Kathmandu rather than let the relationship deteriorate.
- No bilateral relationship between nations can be built on sentiment — whether it is based on faith, ideology or inheritance.
- Only those rooted in shared interests will endure.
- Rather than object to Kathmandu’s China ties, Delhi must focus on how to advance India’s relations with Nepal.
- It should bet that the logic of Nepal’s economic geography, its pursuit of enlightened self-interest, and Kathmandu’s natural balancing politics, will continue to provide a strong framework for India’s future engagement with Nepal.
Conclusion
Discarding the appearances of the “special relationship” might, in fact, make it easier for Delhi to construct a more durable and interest-based partnership with Kathmandu that is rooted in realism and has strong popular support on both sides.
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Treat of Sugauli in 1816
Mains level: Paper 2- Indiao-Nepal relations and territorial dispute.
Over the past few years, we have been witness to the deteriorating India-Nepal relations. Reserves of goodwill which India had accumulated is fast depleting in Nepal. The latest issue over the map is a new addition to the decline in relations. This article stresses the need for political maturity to find the solution to the complex issue of the underlying problem.
Need for the fundamental reset in relations between Indian and Nepal
- The immediate provocation for the contention is the long-standing territorial issue surrounding Kalapani.
- It is a patch of land near the India-Nepal border, close to the Lipulekh Pass on the India-China border.
- However, the underlying reasons are far more complex.
- Yet, Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s exploitation of the matter, by raising the banner of Nepali nationalism and painting India as a hegemon, is part of a frequent pattern.
- Which indicates that relations between the two countries need a fundamental reset.
Let’s look at the historical background of the India-Nepal border
- India inherited the boundary with Nepal, established between Nepal and the East India Company in the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816.
- Kali river constituted the boundary, and the territory to its east was Nepal.
- The dispute relates to the origin of Kali.
- Near Garbyang village in Dharchula Tehsil of the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, there is a confluence of different streams coming from north-east from Kalapani and north-west from Limpiyadhura.
- The early British survey maps identified the north-west stream, Kuti Yangti, from Limpiyadhura as the origin.
- But after 1857 changed the alignment to Lipu Gad, and in 1879 to Pankha Gad, the north-east streams, thus defining the origin as just below Kalapani.
- Nepal accepted the change and India inherited this boundary in 1947.
More past events dealing with the LIpulech pass
- The Maoist revolution in China in 1949, followed by the takeover of Tibet, created deep misgivings in Nepal.
- So, India was ‘invited’ by Nepal to set up 18 border posts along the Nepal-Tibet border.
- The westernmost post was at Tinkar Pass, about 6 km further east of Lipulekh.
- In 1953, India and China identified Lipulekh Pass for both pilgrims and border trade. After the 1962 war, pilgrimage through Lipulekh resumed in 1981, and border trade, in 1991.
- In 1961, King Mahendra visited Beijing to sign the China-Nepal Boundary Treaty that defines the zero point in the west, just north of Tinkar Pass.
- By 1969, India had withdrawn its border posts from Nepali territory.
- The base camp for Lipulekh remained at Kalapani, less than 10 km west of Lipulekh.
- In their respective maps, both countries showed Kalapani as the origin of Kali river and as part of their territory.
- After 1979, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police has manned the Lipulekh Pass.
So, when was the issue of the origin of Kali river raised?
- After the 1996 Treaty of Mahakali -Kali river is also called Mahakali/Sarada further downstream-the issue of the origin of Kali river was first raised in 1997.
- The matter was referred to the Joint Technical Level Boundary Committee that had been set up in 1981 to re-identify and replace the old and damaged boundary pillars along the India-Nepal border.
- The Committee clarified 98% of the boundary, leaving behind the unresolved issues of Kalapani and Susta when it was dissolved in 2008.
- It was subsequently agreed that the matter would be discussed at the Foreign Secretary level.
- Meanwhile, the project to convert the 80-km track from Ghatibagar to Lipulekh into a hardtop road began in 2009 without any objections from Nepal.
Objections raised by Nepal to the new map released by India
- The Survey of India issued a new political map (eighth edition) on November 2, 2019, to reflect the change in the status of Jammu and Kashmir as two Union Territories.
- Nepal registered a protest though the map in no way had changed the boundary between India and Nepal.
- However, on November 8, the ninth edition was issued.
- The delineation remained identical but the name Kali river had been deleted.
- Predictably, this led to stronger protests, with Nepal invoking Foreign Secretary-level talks to resolve issues.
New map released by Nepal and issues with it
- A new map of Nepal based on the older British survey reflecting Kali river originating from Limpiyadhura in the north-west of Garbyang was adopted by parliament and notified on May 20.
- On May 22, a constitutional amendment proposal was tabled to include it in a relevant Schedule.
- The new alignment adds 335 sq km to Nepali territory, territory that has never been reflected in a Nepali map for nearly 170 years.
Following issue explains why there is need for rewriting the fundamental of India-Nepal relations
1. Nepali nationalism is being equated to anti-Indianism
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi has often spoken of the “neighbourhood first” policy.
- But the relationship took a nosedive in 2015 when India first got blamed for interfering in the Constitution-drafting in Nepal.
- And then for an “unofficial blockade” that generated widespread resentment against the country.
- It reinforced the notion that Nepali nationalism and anti-Indianism were two sides of the same coin.
2. China factor
- In Nepali thinking, the China card has provided them the leverage to practise their version of non-alignment.
- In the past, China maintained a link with the Palace and its concerns were primarily related to keeping tabs on the Tibetan refugee community.
- With the abolition of the monarchy, China has shifted attention to the political parties as also to institutions like the Army and Armed Police Force.
- Also, today’s China is pursuing a more assertive foreign policy and considers Nepal an important element in its growing South Asian footprint.
3. India has ignored the changing political narrative for long
- The reality is that India has ignored the changing political narrative in Nepal for far too long.
- India remained content that its interests were safeguarded by quiet diplomacy even when Nepali leaders publicly adopted anti-Indian postures.
- Long ignored by India, it has spawned distortions in Nepali history textbooks and led to long-term negative consequences.
- For too long India has invoked a “special relationship”, based on shared culture, language and religion, to anchor its ties with Nepal.
- Today, this term carries a negative connotation — that of a paternalistic India that is often insensitive and, worse still, a bully.
- The 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship which was sought by the Nepali authorities in 1949 is viewed as a sign of an unequal relationship, and an Indian imposition.
- The purpose of the treaty was to continue the special links Nepal had with British India and it provides for an open border and right to work for Nepali nationals
- Yet, Nepali authorities have studiously avoided taking it up bilaterally even though Nepali leaders thunder against it in their domestic rhetoric.
Consider the question, “Examine the issues that have been testing the old ties between India and Nepal.”
Conclusion
The urgent need today is to pause the rhetoric on territorial nationalism and lay the groundwork for a quiet dialogue where both sides need to display sensitivity as they explore the terms of a reset of the “special relationship”. A normal relationship where India can be a generous partner will be a better foundation for “neighbourhood first” in the 21st century.
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Treaty of Sugauli, Lipu Lekh pass.
Mains level: Paper 2- India-Nepal ties, and issues involved.
India – Nepal relations are having its “see saw swing” moment. At one end, lies the 1950 treaty of peace and friendship, close people to people relations and India’s aid during 2015 earthquake. But on the other end lies the economic blockade and Madhesi protest. Another entry to the later side is the Border issue.
- The inauguration of road from Dharchula to Lipu Lekh was done with great fanfare, at least on the Indian side.
- The metalled road is a BIG relief for pilgrims and traders on the traditional route for the Kailash-Mansarovar yatra, who otherwise were stuck for days in the arduous walk.
So, where is the issue?
The issue lies in Nepal’s charge claiming that the stretch passes though Nepalese territory. This was displayed by some politicized moves like-
- Intemperate remarks by Nepal’s PM in the Nepalese Parliament.
- Manner (airdropped to the location by helicopters) and timing(why now?) of the Deployment of armed police at Chharung, close to Kalapani, in its Sudoor Paschim.
- Finally, Nepalese government has raised the stakes further by authorizing a new map extending its territory across an area sensitive for India’s defence.
The very beginning: The Sugauli Treaty
- Before the 1816 Treaty of Sugauli, the Nepalese kingdom stretched from the Sutlej river in the west to the Teesta river in the East.
- Nepal lost the Anglo-Nepalese War and with the signing of Sugauli Treaty was brought down to its present territories.
The Sugauli Treaty stated that “[t]he Rajah of Nipal [Nepal] hereby cedes to the Honourable [the] East India Company in perpetuity all the under-mentioned territories”, including “the whole of the lowlands between the Rivers Kali and Rapti.” It elaborated further that “[t]he Rajah of Nipal [Nepal] renounces for himself, his heirs, and successors, all claim to or connection with the countries lying to the west of the River Kali and engages never to have any concern with those countries or the inhabitants there of.”
- The present controversy arose with Nepalese contest that the tributary that joins the Mahakali river at Kalapani is not the Kali river. Nepal now contends that the Kali river lies further west to the Lipu Lekh pass.
- But here’s the catch!
- The British used the Lipu Lekh pass for trade with Tibet and China.
- Even Survey of India maps since the 1870s shows the area of Lipu Lekh down to Kalapani as part of British India.
- Even though the areas of Nepalgunj and Kapilvastu were restituted to Nepal as a reward for the military help rendered by Jung Bahadur Rana in quelling the 1857 uprising. The British did not return any part of Garhwal or Kumaon, including the Kalapani area, to Nepal.
- Infact, both the Rana rulers of Nepal and the Nepalese Kings accepted the boundary and did not raise any objection with the government of India after India’s Independence.
- True that India did not existed in 1816 when the Treaty of Sugauli was concluded.
- But many borders of the world and India are colonial legacy, which we have to work out.
The path to peace
- The Nepal-India Technical Level Joint Boundary Working Group was set up in 1981 to resolve boundary issues, to demarcate the international border, and to manage boundary pillars.
- By 2007, the group completed the preparation of 182 strip maps, signed by the surveyors of the two sides, covering almost 98% of the boundary, all except the two disputed areas of Kalapani and Susta.
- Not able to solve the border issues in these disputed areas has left us hanging.
India has successfully resolved far more intractable border issues with Bangladesh.
- The land boundary settlement required an exchange of territories, including the transfer of population, and a constitutional amendment to give effect to the 1974 India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement.
- The maritime boundary issue with Bangladesh involved going to the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration. Despite knowing well that if the Court applied the principle of equity, India would lose up to four-fifths of the disputed area. India lost but the government of India accepted the ruling.
- Compared to what was accomplished between India and Bangladesh, the India-Nepal border issues appear more easily solvable.
Respecting out Ties
- India Nepal ties are unique.
- Historical link between the nations.
- Spirit of maintaining India’s close and friendly bilateral relations with Nepal.
- The people-to-people relationship between India and Nepal is unmatched.
What lies ahead?
- This matter can be best handled bilaterally, through quiet diplomacy.
- The Official Spokesperson of India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Anurag Srivastava, has said recently that India and Nepal have an established mechanism to deal with all boundary matters.
- He has affirmed that India is committed to resolving outstanding boundary issues through diplomatic dialogue.
- The remaining issues concerning the boundary i.e Kalapani and Susta are not difficult to resolve unless they are caught up in domestic or international concerns.
- The next steps should be approval of the strip maps by the respective governments (that of the Nepalese Government is still awaited), the resolution of the differences of opinion over Kalapani and Susta, and speeding up the erection of damaged or missing border pillars.
Consider the question “India-Nepal ties are unique. Both countries have many things in common. Yet, recent developments over the border dispute threaten to snap these ties. Examine the border issue between the two countries. What is India’s stand on the issue? Suggest ways to resolve the issue.”
Conclusion
The more the trouble festers, those who stand to gain by deteriorating India-Nepal relations will benefit. There is need for the two countries to lower the temperature and defuse the issue. They must invest time and effort to find a solution. Raking up public controversy can only be counterproductive to the relationship.
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: Kalapani Region
Mains level: India-Nepal relations and the Chinese hinderance
Nepal has protested against India’s inauguration of a Himalayan link road built in a disputed territory which falls at a strategic three-way junction with Tibet and China. Kathmandu claims the highly strategic areas of Limpiyadhura and Kalapani, although Indian troops have been deployed there since the 1962 war.
Practice question for mains:
Q. The India-Nepal bilateral relations these days are increasingly seen through the lens of China factor. Examine.
Kalapani Region
- Mapped within Uttarakhand is a 372-sq km area called Kalapani, bordering far-west Nepal and Tibet.
- A treaty signed between Nepal and British India in 1816 determined the Makhali river, that runs through Kalapani, as the boundary between the two neighbours.
- The Treaty of Sugauli concluded between British India and the Kingdom of Nepal in the year 1816, maps the Makhali river as the western boundary with India but different British maps showed the source of the tributary at different places which was mainly due to underdeveloped and less-defined surveying techniques used at that time.
- However, the river has many tributaries that meet at Kalapani. For this reason, India claims that the river begins at Kalapani but Nepal says that it begins from Lipu Lekh pass, which is the source of most of its tributaries.
- While the Nepal government and political parties have protested, India has said the new map does not revise the existing boundary with Nepal.
- India claims that the river begins at Kalapani but Nepal says that it begins from Lipu Lekh pass, which is the source of most of its tributaries.
Legal Dimension of Issue
According to International Laws, the principles of avulsion and accretion are applicable in determining the borders when a boundary river changes course.
- Avulsion: It is the pushing back of the shoreline by sudden, violent action of the elements, perceptible while in progress. Also it can be defined as the sudden and perceptible change in the land brought about by water, which may result in the addition or removal of land from a bank or shoreline.
- Accretion: It is the process of growth or enlargement by a gradual buildup. It is the natural, slow and gradual deposit of soil by the water.
If the change of the river course is rapid – by avulsion – the boundary does not change. But if the river changes course gradually – that is, by accretion – the boundary changes accordingly.
Since, the Gandak change of course has been gradual, India claimed Susta as part of their territory as per international laws.
- On several occasions, India has tried to resolve the issue through friendly and peaceful negotiations, but the Nepali leadership has always shown hesitation in resolving the issue.
- In Nepal, the issue has become a tool for arousing strong public sentiment against India. Therefore, resolving the issue may not be in the best interest of Nepal’s domestic politics.
Significance for India
- The Lipu Lekh pass serves strategic importance for India as a key point to monitor Chinese troop movement.
- The link road via Lipulekh Himalayan Pass is also considered one of the shortest and most feasible trade routes between India and China.
- The Nepalese reaction would probably have triggered in response to Chinese assertion.
An undefined boundary claimed by Nepal
- Nepal’s western boundary with India was marked out in the Treaty of Sugauli between the East India Company and Nepal in 1816.
- Nepali authorities claim that people living in the low-density area were included in the Census of Nepal until 58 years ago.
- Five years ago, Nepali Foreign Minister Mahendra Bahadur Pande claimed that the late King Mahendra had “handed over the territory to India”.
- By some accounts in Nepal, this allegedly took place in the wake of India-China War of 1962.
Treaty of Saguali
