WION Spotlight | It’s India vs China in Nepal and Sri Lanka 

India has extended assistance of $3.8 billion to help Sri Lanka recover from the economic collapse which saw unprecedented turmoil. Not long after, the India has put Sri Lanka in the dock at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for lack of “measurable progress” in resolving the Tamil minority issue.

New Delhi expressed concern on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, namely, the continued denial of justice, dignity and peace to the minority Tamils by not sticking to its commitment to implement the 13th Amendment to the constitution.

Obviously, India is miffed over Colombo allowing a so-called Chinese “spy” ship to dock at Hambantota last month in spite of India’s opposition to it. Such situations are unavoidable for a country that is in debt to both India and China; a carrot from one is bound to bring forth the stick from the other.

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In the race for regional supremacy between India and China, it is not only Sri Lanka but Nepal too that is caught in a cleft-stick.

In early September, India’s Chief of Army Staff, General Manoj Pande went on a four-day visit to Nepal. For all the warmth and friendliness that marked his engagements, Nepal did not appear keen to see its citizens, especially the Gorkhas, opting for the Agnipath scheme to join the India Army. However, the government said that though its thinking on the matter was positive, a decision would be taken only after an all-party consultation.

The week after General Pande’s visit saw Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal travelling to New Delhi for two days at the invitation of Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra. The two foreign secretaries reviewed the entire spectrum of bilateral cooperation from the economic, commercial and development to culture and people-people relations.

While they were preparing for these talks, on the eve of Paudyal’s visit, China pulled off a diplomatic coup in Kathmandu: a six-point agreement between visiting Chairman of China’s National People’s Congress, Li Zhanshau, and Speaker of Nepal’s Houe of Representatives, Agni Prasad Sapkota. This is expected to provide the basis for China-Nepal cooperation in multiple sectors and moving forward on projects under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

This unprecedented agreement is significant because India remains opposed to the BRI, but that has not deterred Nepal from signing up for it.

The power play of the Asian giants in the neighbourhood is in full flow. Whether smaller countries like Sri Lanka and Nepal are getting the best of both India and China or losing out on the traditional and tested advantages of being in India’s “zone of influence” seems to be a moot question at this stage.

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