30/01/2017
India and China's Tug of War Over Nepal :
Nepal’s politicians face increasing pressure from both China and India.
In the last week of December, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) announced that it is planning to hold its first-ever joint military exercise with Nepal. Though Chinese military assistance to Nepal has significantly increased in recent years, this is the first time that China has proposed a joint military exercise — and Nepal accepted.
The development came as Nepal is proposing to change some provisions of the 1950 Peace and Friendship Treaty with India. The treaty states that Nepal needs to inform or receive consent from India when it purchases military hardware from third countries.
By amending the treaty, Nepal wants to change such provisions and make independent decisions on security issues, including the purchase of military equipment. However, India is still the largest supplier of military hardware to the Nepali Army and the two armies enjoy an excellent relationship. Since 1950, it has been a custom for the two countries to confer honors on each other’s army chiefs, which signifies their close military-to-military ties.
Despite that closeness, in recent years it has become clear that Nepal is willing to change its military relationship with India. When China’s announced its joint military exercise with Nepal, which will take place in February, there were reports that India expressed unhappiness over the decision. Though there has been no official announcement from the Indian government expressing displeasure, reports from Indian media and experts indicate that New Delhi is not happy.
