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Nepal: pivot to the north?

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Nepal: pivot to the north?

Photo: Ingmar Zahorsky
Photo: Ingmar Zahorsky

China and Nepal will conduct their first ever joint military exercises on Friday, marking warming military ties between the two countries. India, a long-term ally, will be looking on with unease.

India and Nepal share a ‘special relationship’ under a 1950 treaty, which enables the free movement of people and goods, as well as collaboration on foreign and defence policy. But allegations that New Delhi has blockaded its land-locked neighbour since 2015 have strained relations, pushing Kathmandu to strengthen ties with its next-most important neighbour: China.

Friday’s exercises aim to assist Nepal with counter-terrorism operations – an area India has dominated for over a decade. For its part, Nepal is seeking to renegotiate terms of the 1950 treaty to enable it to purchase military hardware from other countries without India’s consent.

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Friday’s exercises signal Kathmandu’s desire to forge an independent foreign policy and could suggest a trend of strengthening Nepali-Chinese relations.

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