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While we were busy with our endless PM electioneering, an Indian journalist was paying attention to the Chinese decision to invest $200 million to upgrade a dry port in Gyirong, a Tibetan town not far from the central part of Nepal's northern border. Calling Nepal a basket case incapacitated by political infighting, this Times of India journalist chastised his own government for not paying attention to these huge opportunities in the north.
Nepalis are well aware of the rising economic prowess of China and India on the world stage, and we love to talk about our strategic location. But to translate our rhetoric into reality, we need to have a strategic vision, followed by a set of doable policies.
For such a vision, we need to make sure our regional politics are tied to our economic development strategies, and that we can promote interests that are mutually beneficial for all parties involved. To that end, Nepal needs to persuade its two neighbours to sign a tri-lateral agreement – Trans-Himalayan Economic Cooperative Agreement (THECA).
With rising economic trade between China and India to the tune of $60 billion per annum (more than Indian trade with SAARC countries combined), a peaceful trade corridor in the middle would be a welcome relief for the two aspiring superpowers. Numerous Indian banks are already operating in China; English-speaking Indian MBAs and engineers are penetrating Chinese markets in an unprecedented way. And the idea of a trans-Himalayan highway is not confined to romantic, visionary rhetoric, more than 80 per cent of goods in the US are transported over land after all. Such an arrangement will be a necessity within a decade or two for the two Asian giants.
Also, the Chinese decision to move south-westward through the Tibetan plateau is highly strategic. In addition to having an eye on the southern Asian market, China is interested in integrating Tibet and its vast western front, Xinjiang, with the east coast. In particular, the sparsely populated but resource-laden Tibet Autonomous Region, the size of the Western Europe landmass, can play a vital role in China's continuous economic drive.
China plans to build 100 dams on the Tibetan plateau. It has also built a network of 25,000km of highways in Tibet, a spectacular 4000km railway line linking Beijing to Lhasa, a 1,000km oil pipeline, and there's more to come. This infrastructural development in Tibet also holds strategic value for India.