Nepal's new map is eating into India to please China

• Nepal's National Assembly unanimously passed the Constitution Amendment Bill to update the country's map incorporating Indian territories on June 18.
  
• Nepal shares a border of over 1,850 km with five Indian states — Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
  
• The India-Nepal bilateral ties came under fresh strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an 80 km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8.

Nepal's National Assembly unanimously passed the Constitution Amendment Bill to update the country's map incorporating Indian territories on June 18 deepening the divide between the two countries.

India rejected the map — which includes parts of Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani areas in the northwest — saying that such "artificial enlargement" of territorial claim is untenable.

Nepal shares a border of over 1,850 km with five Indian states — Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In sync with the unique ties of friendship, the two countries have a long tradition of free movement of people across the border

The move came two days after India and China engaged in a “violent clash” at Galwan Valley in Ladakh — which killed 20 Indian soldiers. “They have coordinated with Pakistan and Nepal to create embarrassment for India,” former diplomat and a distinguished fellow with Mumbai-based thinktank Gateway House, Rajiv Bhatia, told Business Insider.

Rakesh Sood, who was Indian Ambassador to Nepal from 2008 to 2011, told PTI that India and China have allowed the relationship to come to a "very very dangerous point." He believes that India should have found time to engage with Kathmandu and pressed for talks on the issue since November.

China was already helping Nepal reduce its dependence on India

In 2015, Nepal’s new constitution did not address the demands of the Madhesis — an ethnic group living mainly in the southern plains of Nepal, close to the border with India. The plains of Madhesh cover 22 of Nepal’s 75 districts and are home to 50% of the country’s population. The land there is fertile and has a concentration of industries yet, the region feels discriminated against by Kathmandu.

As a result, protests broke out and the Madhesi movement launched a blockade — instigated by India to force Nepal to amend its constitution — during KP Sharma Oli’s premiership in September 2015 which lasted till February last year.

During the course of the blockade, more than 50 people were killed. The agitation also crippled Nepal's economy as supplies from India were blocked.

In the absence of supplies from India, China stepped in. It invested heavily in helping the landlocked country layout new roads — including those which connect it to Tibet.

The roads, in turn, helped Nepal import essential products like petroleum, which it was only importing from India before the blockade — reducing its dependence on its peninsular neighbour to its big brother in the north.

China reportedly also has plans to lay a strategic railway network connecting Kathmandu and Shigatse in Tibet where it would join an existing railway line to Lhasa, Tibet's capital.

It has offered Nepal four ports for shipment of goods as well to further reduce the import of materials from India.

The India-Nepal bilateral ties came under fresh strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8. Nepal reacted sharply to the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through Nepalese territory. India rejected the claim asserting that the road lies completely within its territory.

(With inputs from PTI)

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