Two recent developments in our Himalayan neighbourhood should be a cause of serious concern, bordering on alarm. The first is the strict enforcement of a rarely enforced order of 1958 imposing Bhansar (customs duty) on Indian goods valued above Indian National Rupees (INR) 100. This is just about 64 Nepali rupees – and so anyone entering Nepal – whether she be an Indian/Nepali is subject to this payment or face confiscation of goods. It affects Nepalese citizens who come to the border bazaars of India to buy groceries, medicines, utensils, electronics, and products for weddings. This has seen serious protests in all the border towns of Nepal, and could well prove to the first of series of populist steps taken by the new Balendra (Balen) Shah regime. Just to set the context, INR 100 of 1958 is the equivalent of INR 11,138 today. Therefore the clear intent was to stop the free flow of people and goods on the India Nepal border. Here is a classic case of implementing the letter of the law by divorcing it from the context in which it had been first promulgated. It is surprising that our MEA reacted rather mutely to this new development by taking refuge under the cover that Nepal has not violated any existing arrangement.
The second relates to the visit of the Samir Paul Kapoor, the United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs and his meeting with Ravi Lamichhane, chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which is part of Nepal’s current ruling coalition. It is believed that in his visit to the frontier districts of Nepal, Kapoor has looked at the prospects of commercial mining of uranium and other rare metals with substantial US investment. The country’s geographic location—situated between India and China—makes it a key partner in regional stability and development initiatives. Over the years, US-Nepal relations have expanded across sectors such as Development assistance, Disaster response and resilience, Democratic institution-building, besides of course Trade and investment.
Though at one level it is good that US is a good counterfoil to China, but India should be legitimately concerned about these developments in our immediate neighbourhood. While no formal agreements were announced during this initial meeting, the tone of the engagement suggested a willingness on both sides to explore deeper collaboration in the coming months. It is also significant to note that while India does not figure prominently in the US scheme of things, their engagement with three of our close neighbours – Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh – is expanding exponentially. The PMO, the MEA and the NSCS should immediately call for a multistakeholder conversation on to deliberate upon our relationship with the new regime in Nepal.
