Introduction:
Nepal is a landlocked country nestled in the southern foothills of the Himalayas.
It has only two neighbors, namely China, which is bordered to the north, and India, which is surrounded by east, west and south. The geopolitical conditions are comparable to those of Mongolia in East Asia.
At the same time, Nepal is the only country in the South Asian subcontinent that has not been colonized.
This was due on the one hand to the stubborn resistance of the Nepalese and the fact that they forced the British to accept their independence.
On the other hand, because the British saw that they were too poor, and even if they were defeated, they would not be able to gain more than they would lose, so they gave up the attack.
Until now, Nepal is still one of the least developed countries in Asia, with a weak industrial base, backward agriculture, and an economy of only $28.8 billion, and only foreign aid for manufactured goods and food.
Moreover, Nepal has no access to the sea and only borders China and India, so foreign aid can only come from these two countries.
On the map, Nepal borders China on the border with the Hinterland Plain, while India borders the hinterland of the Gangetic Plain, which is easily accessible and economically developed.
It stands to reason that Nepal should be more dependent on India. However, in recent years, Nepal has frequently moved closer to China, but has gradually distanced itself from India.
Nepal: Sending Britain away and welcoming India
In fact, Nepal followed China before India. Later, the reason why they leaned towards India was more because of the helplessness of the geographical location and the compromise under political coercion, rather than following it from the heart.
Long before the arrival of the British, Nepal was a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty. It was not until the 60s of the 19th century, when the Qing Dynasty's national strength declined, that the British colonists took advantage of the situation and broke off this suzerain-vassal relationship.
Although it is said that the bloody Nepalese did not eventually become a British colony like India.
But in order to survive, they could only be forced to sign some unequal treaties, and hand over all the financial, political, and military powers to Britain for "guidance" and become British protectorates.
In 1948, British troops withdrew from the subcontinent, and it stands to reason that the unequal treaties left by the British should also be completely abolished. However, the plague god sent one after another.
As soon as the British walked on the front foot, the Indians infiltrated on the back foot, declaring that they would inherit the British colonial heritage in its entirety.
India's confidence in doing so lies in the fact that they surrounded Nepal on three sides, occupying a favorable time and place, and were the only country that Nepal could rely on at that time.
Nepal's water and electricity are completely supplied by India, and the import of goods needs to be approved by Indian customs, and the entire economic lifeline of the country is in the hands of India.
In 1950, Nepal was forced to sign the Nepal-India Treaty of Peace and Friendship. This treaty is actually a copy of the unequal treaty of Great Britain, except that the beneficiary is India.
Immediately afterwards, under the guise of promoting common development, India coerced Nepal into signing the Trade Treaty, further controlling Nepal's trade.
India's move is tantamount to inheriting the privileged position of the British, and India claims to be the "master of the subcontinent" and regards South Asia as its own backyard.
He has repeatedly taken advantage of this unequal relationship between Nepal and India to influence and control Nepal in various fields and directions.
Culturally, more than 80% of Nepal's population is Hindu, which is one of the reasons why India has been able to influence Nepal.
At the same time, many of the Indian intangible cultural heritage we are familiar with are actually products of Nepal.
For example, yoga, although it originated in Nepal, is often used as a propaganda word in India. India deliberately misleads the outside world through external propaganda, so that they mistakenly believe that this is India's cultural label.
India has also hosted international yoga festivals on several occasions and has even brazenly declared that yoga is India's "gift to the world".
The aim is to dilute Nepal's international presence and suppress their cultural self-confidence. Finally, they were quietly assimilated.
In terms of population, the Indian government has often allowed or even encouraged Chinese to migrate to Nepal.
According to the Treaty of Peace and Friendship signed between Nepal and India in 1950, Indians can move to Nepal without barriers and without green cards.
At first glance, this is a contribution of labor to the construction of Nepal, but in fact, their real purpose is to add sand to Nepal and change the demographic composition of Nepal so that Indians are dominant.
As a nation that has defeated the British colonizers twice in succession, the Nepalese can naturally see what the cunning Indian government is singing.
Moreover, in the South Asian subcontinent, there have long been lessons from the past, such as the Kingdom of Bhutan, which has a similar geopolitical environment to itself next door.
In order to save its life, this country handed over all the military and political power to India for "guidance".
Currently, Bhutan is the only neighbouring country that does not have diplomatic relations with China, and it is also a member state of the United Nations that does not have diplomatic relations with any of the P5.
Another example is Sikkim, which is even more miserable, and was annexed by India before it joined the United Nations. Disappear silently on the world map.
In accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, the Security Council is supposed to intervene in India's acts of aggression, but in the face of Sikkim's pleas for help, they have turned a blind eye and acted indifferently.
When India controlled and destroyed these countries, it also used the routine of "immigrating first, then sending troops".
Immigrants open the way, stir up disputes between old and new residents, and then send troops to attack under the pretext of protecting the diaspora.
Nepal has long realized that India is a true disciple of the former suzerain, Britain, and everything it does is to eat Nepal.
But Nepal is too weak to be self-sufficient in food, and India is inseparable from it in all aspects. Therefore, I can only endure it first.
So much so that for a long time in the past, India said west, but Nepal did not dare to go east, otherwise it would wait for water and power outages.
For example, in the 90s of the last century, when China's economy was taking off, India saw that Nepal was too close to China, so it moved out of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship.
The first trade sanctions were imposed on Nepal on the grounds of "buying supplies from China without consent", setting back the Nepalese economy for several years.
Another example is the magnitude 7 earthquake in Nepal in 2015. In the year of the catastrophe, instead of providing humanitarian assistance, India deliberately fell into the trap.
The closure of trade ports, cutting off supplies, and delaying the rescue efforts have killed many victims. India has taken human lives in order to knock the Nepalese government, which has been disobedient recently.
It can be seen that for Nepalese, how to build good relations with India is not only a diplomatic issue, but also a matter of survival.
The China-Nepal Highway is the precursor of Nepal moving closer to China
However, in the face of inevitable natural disasters, China, which is also a neighbor of Nepal, has shown a very different attitude and approach, which has made India ashamed.
After being blockaded by India, Nepal had no choice but to turn to China for help.
After receiving a call for help, the Chinese side transported 1,000 tons of fuel oil to the foot of the Himalayas without saying a word, solving Nepal's energy crisis. Subsequently, in just one day, China provided Nepal with 20 million yuan in supplies.
China's move has deepened friendship and gained favors, and second, it has proved that it is capable of replacing India as Nepal's supplier.
In the face of the disaster, Nepal finally realized who was the real reliable party, so it strengthened its determination to make friends with China.
What's more, Nepal also wants China to have access to their market to counterbalance India. However, it is not easy to get China in, and the first thing that needs to be solved is the problem of terrain barriers.
At present, China's supply to Nepal is mainly carried out through two modes of transportation. Either by air, flying from the mainland to Kathmandu airport, but this is too expensive to do so and is only suitable for emergencies.
Either take the China-Nepal Highway, start from Lhasa, pass through Shigatse, and transfer to Kathmandu. This is also the most commonly taken route at present.
Therefore, the China-Nepal Highway has become an important link between China and Nepal.
The existence of the highway will help Nepal to diversify its supply sources, reduce its dependence on India, and provide more development opportunities.
For China, it will help to open up the South Asian market, deepen exchanges and cooperation between them, and expand its influence to the southern foothills of the Himalayas.
However, the China-Nepal highway also has the problems of inefficient transportation and dangerous routes.
From the point of view of the route, the highway needs to pass through the terrain along the harsh mountains, the terrain is undulating and the drop is very large, and the vehicle must slow down and transport lightly.
So much so that although China has provided assistance, it has achieved little. Its influence in Nepal has always been slightly inferior to that of India.
Therefore, in 2006, the Nepalese government proposed to China to build a China-Nepal railway with a starting point in Kathmandu and Lhasa.
As an extension of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, in order to share the pressure of the China-Nepal Highway and improve the transportation between the two countries, the China-Nepal Railway Project is still in the preliminary preparation stage.
At the end of last year, China sent an infrastructure expert group to Kathmandu to discuss the feasibility of the China-Nepal railway, and was willing to provide financial support and technical assistance to Nepal.
Epilogue:
It is foreseeable that after the opening of the railway, China's development achievements will be more convenient to benefit Nepal, allowing Nepal to catch the express train of the Belt and Road Initiative and get rid of the threat of Indian hegemony.
It is believed that in the near future, Nepal will be able to abolish a series of unequal treaties, realize its own independence, and become a sovereign country in the true sense.
Resources:
[1] Building an Important Platform for Tibet's Opening to Nepal: A Case Study of Jilong Port[J]. Investment and Cooperation, 2022(08)
[2] Historical changes in Lovo in northwestern Nepal and its connection with Tibet in China[J]. Yelatai Tibetan Studies, 2022(02)