Nepal should be worried that the ongoing Indo-China spat at Dokhlam marks a renewed phase of geo-strategic and geo-economic rivalry as China and India rise as 21st-century heavyweights.
Uncertainties about the Trump administration’s foreign policy direction leave a large space for other giants, such as China, Russia and India, to occupy. How relations between these big powers shape up and how they behave with regional actors will be key questions. In such a geopolitical climate, Nepal will only benefit from strengthening trust-based relationships with neighbours and being a robust international actor.
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Equidistance or asymmetry?, Editorial
During the 1962 Sino-Indian war, Nepal maintained strict neutrality and did not permit either side to use its soil or airspace. Our neighbours realised that Nepal, a buffer between the Himalaya and the Indo-Gangetic plains, could become a headache if it slid into chaos and instability.
Nepal went on to sit on the UN Security Council (twice), became one of the largest contributors to UN peacekeeping missions worldwide, and has hosted world leaders, including Queen Elizabeth and Emperor Akihito. In the last six decades, two Indian mountain states on our border disappeared in political geography but Nepal managed to survive because we have never hesitated to practise and project an independent foreign policy of our own.
Bhutan has always been inward-looking. We ought not to forget that its airspace was used in the 1962 war. It has done remarkably well in terms of maintaining political stability, harnessing its hydro-resources and making environmental protection its top priority. However, it does not have diplomatic relations with the P5 countries of the UN Security Council and maintains only a handful of missions, in Delhi, Dhaka, Geneva, Bangkok, etc. There are only three foreign embassies in Thimphu.