Ties with Nepal and Bhutan, our small but crucial Himalayan neighbours which form a buffer with a China eager to expand its footprint, look distinctly unsettled.
In Nepal, two Communist parties — Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) — that together won the national elections recently, have just drawn up a blueprint (keeping their pre-election pledge) for merger to form the Communist Party of Nepal, which could seek to leverage Beijing against New Delhi. Prime Minister K.P. Oli (CPN-UML faction), who will alternate with Pushpa Kumar Dahal “Prachanda” (Maoist faction) as government and party leader, is a Sinophile and not particularly well-disposed toward India, more so after the Narendra Modi government gave him little comfort on the Madhesi issue during the Constitution-making in Nepal in 2015, when he was last PM. Mr Oli’s statements on taking office were certainly not intended to soothe nerves in India.
In Bhutan, after India’s military standoff with China in the Doklam plateau ended last summer, Beijing has continued to mount diplomatic pressure on Thimphu to exchange territories so that Chinese troops may legally have a base in an area near Sikkim, and potentially threaten North Bengal. To counteract Beijing’s moves, India last week sent a team comprising the foreign secretary, national security adviser and the Army Chief to Bhutan to bolster ties. Unlike Nepal, the ties with Bhutan have always been excellent on the whole. Even so, it’s not clear how much pressure tiny Bhutan can handle from a menacing world power neighbour without India raising its game.
