India and Nepal shares a border of 1850 kilometres
India and Nepal have been close neighbours and shared unique friendship. Nepal shares a border of 1850 kilometres with five Indian states – Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand.
The bedrock of the friendship lies in the Indo Nepal Treaty of peace and friendship of 1950.
This treaty opened the borders of both the countries for each other and allowed the free movement of people and also close collaboration in foreign and defence policies.
Following this treaty many Indians are working in Nepal and same goes for the Nepalese employed and living in India. The Gorkha regiment of the Indian Army have also been recruited from the Hills of Nepal and currently about 32,000 Gorkha soldiers are serving the Indian army.
India and Nepal had stood together in the Past
There are many arenas where India and Nepal had stood together when there were hard times for anyone of them. When earthquake hit Nepal in 2015 and caused huge amount of destruction, the Government of India left no stone unturned to help the devastated country.
It dispatched the national disaster response force and special aircrafts with rescue material. Medical assistance was also provided. It also announced a reconstruction package of US dollar 1 billion. The cooperation between the two countries extend to more areas like in connectivity and development partnership, water resources, energy, economy, education, etc.
Bitterness began during 1962 war India with China
But this friendly relationship has been through its fair share of ups and downs. Bitterness began when Nepal did not take sides with India during the 1962 war with China. After some time India was infuriated at the buying of weapons from China by Nepal and also of Nepal’s decision to impose work permits on the Indians living in Nepal. So, India in 1989 put a stop on the imports of Nepal and prevented delivery of oil supplies to Nepal.
Nepal being a landlocked country is dependent on India for its exports and imports. India shares its ports with Nepal and Nepal is benefited by this. This closure of ports adversely affected Nepal’s GDP forcing it in the league of world’s poorest nations. Economy of Nepal was set for the motion down the hill. After some time the relations improved.
Treaty of Sugauli 1815 between India and Nepal
Now the ties have hit a new low with the issuance of the political map of the two countries. India after changing the status of Jammu and Kashmir released the map and included Kalpani in its territory. Nepal objected to this as it considers kalpani under its jurisdiction.
When in may, the Defence minister of India inaugurated the 80 kilometre motorable road near the Lipulekh paas, it didn’t auger well with Nepal as it considered the opening of Road an agreement between India and China without the consultation of Nepal and passing through its territory. So, in retaliation to this Nepal also released a new political map and included Kalpani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh in its own territory.
India responded by saying Nepal is doing this on the behest of a third party.
They made reference to Treaty of Sugauli 1815 and told that the treaty did not demarcate the area and the Kalpani region belong to India as River Kali Originated below Lipulekh paas.
India losing Nepal will push it in China’s Embrace
This bone of contention needs to be resolved fast. Recently Prime Minister Oli contacted PM Modi and confirmed that he want better bilateral relations. India should also grab the opportunity and work towards the betterment of ties with Nepal as it is strategically important and it is a great harm to India by losing Nepal and pushing it in China’s embrace..
Topic :-Who will be the loser in Nepal’s new Aggression?
AUTHOR:- Isha Pandey
CATEGORY :- International Relations
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