Another flashpoint in the making but with Nepal this time
China is taking full advantage of this standoff to side with Nepal against India on this sensitive issue as a counter to India's stand on Doklam.
The 1816 Sigauli treaty between the British raj and Nepal provided that the Kali river (see map) would mark the western border between India and Nepal. Kalapani is on the east bank of the Kali. The pilgrim-cum-trade route from India to Tibet in this region runs for the most part on the west bank of the Kali, but at Kalapani crosses briefly to the east bank.
India says some old British surveys and maps show this section as part of India. But Nepal points to other maps and documents to support its claims.
The Nepalese say that after the war between India and China in 1962, Nepal allowed Indian troops to occupy certain posts in Nepal as a defensive measure. India has withdrawn from all of these except the one at Kalapani. It apparently wants to hold on to that post in case the two countries come to blows again.
India too now has a nationalist government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, which could dig in its heels. The previous Indian government had suggested that the two sides should discuss the matter in a joint working-group. Technically, it should be possible for India to shift its post from Kalapani to the west bank of the Kali.
But what is technically feasible may not be so politically.
So then, China has started desperately fishing in troubled waters by egging Nepal to ask India to withdraw its troops from Kalapani. The moot question is whether China will aggressively side with Nepal and use military force to try and oust Indian troops from the small Kalapani outpost and Tri Junction area on the Sino-India-Nepal border. (Yep! There's another tri junction here too!!)
It seems that these Chinese morons will continue with their shenanigans well into the future. They've already got Pak in their pocket and now trying to get Nepal too, deep into their sphere of influence.
Political acumen and diplomacy is the need of the hour. But seeing that the Nepalese are largely anti India and pro China, it's not going to be easy.
With inputs from The Economist
