This month, China’s president, Xi Jinping, has made history as the first Chinese president to visit Nepal in 23 years. He pledged almost $500 million dollars in aid to Nepal, a country that has been fought over between India and China for years. Being an important border state, the country that controls Nepal will have a leg up on the other. In addition to the $500 million, President Xi and Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli signed 18 agreements on the subjects of connectivity, security, border management, trade, tourism, and education. The goal of these was to foster a stronger relationship between the two states.
Nepal has to be cautious though, If it seems like they are getting too close to China, India will start to pull aid and resources, and vice versa. As a developing nation land locked by much larger countries, Nepal is heavily reliant on aid it receives from both India and China. Nepal was drawn away from India due to the 2015 and 2016 blockages of border crossings left Nepal without much needed fuel and medicine for several months. Nepal’s transition of trust to China can be seen as India’s subtle, yet gradual, loss of power in the region. To combat this, India is likely to give more aid to Nepal as a way of showing Nepal that it is still looking for Nepal’s attention.
One method China has used to link itself and Nepal is by proposing a trans-Himalayan railroad and tunnel that had separate deals going on at the same time as the other meetings this month. The railway would span 42 miles from Nepal’s Capital of Kathmandu to the town of Gyrion in the Tibet region of China. This would be one of the most formidable infrastructure projects in Nepal. Especially because one of the main reasons Nepal and China haven’t always been close is because of the near impossibility of quickly and safely traversing the Himalayas. With this railroad, communication and trade will be made so much easier.
I don’t see Nepal ever making a solid decision between India and China, they will most likely continue to supply Nepal with aid in hopes of taking over in the future. This could never happen because neither country will allow the other to have control.