China’s increasing strategic footprints in Nepal should be a wake up call for Modi

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi has personal interactions and holds formal delegation-level talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the latter’s India visit (17-19 September), the two Asian giant neighbours’ Himalayan rivalries in Nepal should inevitably come up for discussion. But a landmark event that happened recently would ensure that China’s rapid infrastructural forays into Nepal would remain a part of Sino-Indian conversations for a long time, not just during Xi’s upcoming India visit. [caption id=“attachment_1712009” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  PM Narendra Modi. AFP[/caption] China is working on an ambitious Beijing-Lhasa-Kathmandu rail link and the $2.2 billion project, perhaps the world’s costliest international railway project till date, should be operational before 2020. The China-Nepal rail link will be a strategic game-changer as it will reshape the landscape of the world in general and South Asia in particular. Now let’s come to the recent event that demonstrated how quickly China is moving ahead in construction of the Beijing-Kathmandu rail link. This happened when China ran a special train of 16 bogeys which transported 848 passengers from Lhasa to Shigatse, the Chinese township which is on the Nepal border. From Shigatse to Nepal the train journey will take just two hours. The rail link, when completed, will revive a thousand year old caravan route between China and Nepal. The rail link will undoubtedly integrate China-Nepal economies, foster people-to-people contacts, boost China-Nepal trade and would inevitably increase an already formidable Chinese strategic footprint in Nepal even further. The development should serve as a wake-up call for India which has poured billions of dollars in Nepal in the past several decades in scores of infrastructural projects. The strategic implications for India are clear. It was during the UPA government’s tenure when India had unveiled its plans to have rail connectivity with Nepal. Several years down the line, much still remains to be done on the India-Nepal rail link front. On 21 February, 2014, the Indian embassy in Kathmandu released a statement giving an update about the rail link construction work. It said 68% of work on the Indian side of the Jogbani-Biratnagar line has been completed though Nepal has finished only 20% of the construction on its side. Besides the Jogbani-Biratnagar railway link, officials of India and Nepal reviewed progress and discussed pending issues related to the Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas railway link. The Indian embassy statement also said preparatory works like construction of station building, staff quarters and a bridge were in progress for the Jayanagar–Bijalpura–Bardibas link and Kathmandu gave its solemn assurance to New Delhi that land for the projects will be acquired and handed over to state-run IRCON at the earliest to expedite work.“Both sides have agreed to provide all necessary support to expedite implementation of these important projects,” the Indian embassy statement said. Now let’s get to the larger picture – China’s rapidly increasing strategic footprints in Nepal and how India should deal with it. PM Modi had made it clear in his recent bilateral visit to Nepal that India is committed to intensifying its all-round bilateral cooperation with Nepal for mutual benefits. Now that China has begun the construction work on its rail link with Nepal, India has to catch up and do so in double quick time. The Chinese juggernaut is unstoppable. In a way it is good for India and the region. Gone are the days of keeping developmental projects involving two or more nations hanging for decades. China has shown the world its proven capability and intention of completing mammoth international connectivity projects in a matter of few years. The only way India can respond to the Chinese infrastructural diplomacy is to become an active partner in this form of diplomacy. Modi is a great admirer of China’s capability of undertaking massive multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects and completing these on time despite stiff challenges posed by geographical terrain and technical difficulties. India needs to take a leaf from the Chinese book and unleash a process of big ticket infrastructural connectivity projects with all its neighbours. India and China can become active partners in this endeavour. One hopes that this promising area of Sino-Indian cooperation would get adequate traction when PM Modi holds talks with the Chinese President in Gandhinagar and New Delhi next week. The writer is Firstpost Consulting Editor and a strategic analyst who tweets @Kishkindha.