Nepal-India Relations: Dependency Consequences And Strategies
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Department Of International Relation & Diplomacy
Abstract
Nepal is positioned between two large nations- India and China but it is more close to
India due to its' accessible geography, shared historical, economic, religious, socio-
cultural and people to people ties from the ancient time. Although Nepal constructed
Kathmandu-Khasa highway in 1960s, geographical constraints like land locked
situation and poor connectivity facilities with China has been obstructing Nepal to
diversify its relations. As a result of geographical constraints coupled with structural
scarcity, Nepal has been asymmetrically depending over India for its access to sea,
trade and commerce and in large, this economic dependency is also disaffecting
Nepal's security and foreign policies. India has been supporting in political transitions
in Nepal whenever its interests synchronize with anti-regime groups. Taking
advantage of Nepal's economic and political dependency, India's interferences in
Nepal's internal affairs are observed time and again. Whenever Nepal's tries to
diversify her foreign policy engaging with northern neighbor in economic, military,
foreign or political affairs; India expresses its dissatisfaction using its unofficial hard
economic power. India imposed economic blockades in 1969, 1989 and 2015.
Realizing asymmetrical dependency over single country increasing vulnerabilities and
threats to any nation, Nepal has been using different strategies in different periods to
skip from India's dominance. In this context, this research first discussed Nepal-India
relations and explored political, economic and military dependency of Nepal. Then, it
explained about the consequences that Nepal is facing due to its asymmetric
dependency over one country. Finally, the paper critically examined the different
policies used by Nepal in the past and also suggested other possible strategies by
comparing them with the successful strategies of small European state- Switzerland.