Maoist PM forced to balance the interests of Beijing and Delhi

Prachanda returns to power for the third time. He wants friendly relations with the Chinese and Indians, who are facing each other in the Himalayas. In Nepal, the ruling coalition parties have different views on foreign policy. The Nepali Congress had already denounced the invasion of Chinese troops.

Beijing () – A “pro-Nepal” foreign policy, based on “balanced, trustworthy and friendly” relations with all states, including neighboring China and India, is one of the main goals of the new Prime Minister of Kathmandu, Pushpa Kamal Dahal (nicknamed Prachanda). For the third time in his political history, the former Maoist rebel has won Parliament’s support to head the executive. The appointment unlocks the institutional deadlock after the November elections, from which no clear winner had emerged.

For years Nepal has been forging closer ties with Beijing to counter Delhi’s traditional influence: Chinese and Indians have opposing interests in the Himalayan region. However, Prachanda heads a motley coalition of seven parties, in which his Maoist Center is not even the most represented in Parliament, and finding unity of purpose in the country’s diplomatic conduct will be a real challenge.

The main force in the ruling coalition is the Communist Party of Nepal (unified Marxist-Leninist). Like Prachanda, its leader, KP Oli, has excellent relations with China but, unlike the current prime minister, he is hostile to any kind of deal with Delhi. In 2019, as prime minister, Oli had launched a tough campaign against India, accusing its huge neighbor of land violations in the Kalapani region.

Since 2017, Nepal has been a partner in the Belt and Road Initiative, Xi Jinping’s mega-project to consolidate China’s geopolitical centrality by building infrastructure in different parts of the globe. On January 1, the Nepali authorities inaugurated an airport in Pokhara built with Chinese funds. Beijing immediately asked Prachanda to assess the construction of a trans-Himalayan railway line between Kathmandu and Kerung in Chinese Tibet.

The previous executive, from the Nepali Congress, had not been very available to the Chinese courtship. According to a report last February, Chinese troops had invaded Nepali territory. The affected area was the Humla district, on the border with Tibet, where the population is highly dependent on trade with Chinese markets.

In November 2020, the deputies of the Nepali Congress (who were in the opposition at the time) had already denounced Chinese invasions in the region, stressing that Beijing had annexed tens of hectares of territory.

According to various observers, Beijing’s interest in this section of the border is explained by security reasons. The Chinese would like to limit the risk of infiltration by Indian rivals and, at the same time, curb leakage from Tibet to Nepal: between 20,000 and 30,000 Tibetans live on Nepali territory; many others have used it to reach India or elsewhere. They migrated to escape what they see as Chinese repression of their Buddhist cultural and religious traditions.

China has long called on Nepalis to sign an extradition deal that would endanger the Tibetan community that has fled to the small Himalayan state. Under pressure from humanitarian organizations and pro-liberation of Tibet, Kathmandu has so far avoided signing the treaty.