NEW DELHI: Many hands have been wrung and much written about the ground India has lost in Nepal. This is not just about the inroads China has made but India’s diminishing capital among political parties in Kathmandu. Among Nepal’s youth too, one senses a disillusionment with India and perhaps the very idea of India.
In this conversation on Books Corner, Ranjit Rae, former ambassador to Nepal, talks about the India Nepal slide detailed in his book Kathmandu Dilemma: Re-setting India Nepal Ties. His very first chapter sets the tone with the question ‘Why Don’t They Like Us?’, and attempts to answer that.
He takes us back to the days when India Nepal relations were characterised by the ‘roti beti ka rishta’, which is under pressure now. He looks at the dispute over Lipulekh, and why attitudes have hardened in that country.
Should the 1950 treaty that underpins the Delhi-Kathmandu relationship be scrapped? With what? Does Nepal know that could be the end of free movement across our common border, no more recruitment of Gurkhas into the Indian Army and so much more?
Tune in for more in this conversation with Ranjit Rae, former ambassador to Nepal.
