Shenali D Waduge

India does not want South Asian nations to develop ties with China, but India is happy to expand relations & economic partnerships with China. This logic is hard to comprehend but is a fact. Nepal’s ties with China improved following the 2015 earthquake. The same year Nepal was formulating a new constitution. India demanded changes to certain clauses which Nepal refused resulting in India closing its borders & disallowing food, medicines, essentials & fuel to reach Nepal. The embargo lasted 6 months (Sept 2015-Feb 2016) Slapping Nepal with an economic embargo at a time when Nepal was recovering from the April 2015 earthquake is inhumanity at a new level. Close to 9000 people died from the earthquake, over 25,000 were injured, and over 2.8m were displaced. Imagine being denied food, fuel, medicines 5months after the earthquake?

What led to Indian embargo

India’s claim to territories under Nepal – Kalapani, Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura

Nepals increasing ties with China via BRI projects, investments, infrastructure development – which India viewed as undermining its position as Nepal would no longer be reliant on India.

2015 Nepali constitutional change with Nepal refusing to accommodate changes India wanted inserted. India claimed it was concerned about the Madhesi community that India was aligned to. Madhesi’s demand a separate province. India expressed solidarity with them. Nepal accused India of sponsoring Madhesi protests. India demanded Nepal amend its constitution. So many similia rites to how India functions in Sri Lanka using the concern for Tamil people against Sri Lanka.

Eventually, in 2020 Nepal issued a new map including Kalapani, Lipulekh & Limpiyadhura as territory of Nepal. As per the Sugauli Treaty signed between Nepal and British East India Company in 1816, Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh, and Kalapani, all the areas situated to the east of the Mahakali River, belong to Nepal.

India now claims Kalapani as India’s Uttarakhand state.

This is no different to the demand for Sri Lanka’s Kachchetivu by India.

India’s demand that Nepal amend its constitution, include greater provisions for communities aligned with India was viewed by Nepal as interference in its internal affairs. Eventually Nepal had to agree to some amendments. Such was the bullying tactics India adopted.

The flipside of India’s treatment towards Nepal has been a rise in nationalist sentiment among Nepali’s against India & their realization they need to unite to assert their sovereignty & to distance from India’s obsessive influence on Nepal as a result of appeasement policies of their leaders which had weakened Nepal & its people.

A scenario Sri Lankans need to also ponder.

Indian imposed sanctions began after Nepal adopted its new constitution on 20 September 2015 & officially ended in February 2016 (after 6 months) but the humanitarian crisis continued as Nepali people suffered from the damage of the previous 6 months. The situation was confounded as a result of the devastating earthquake in April 2015 in Nepal.

FUEL – Nepal’s fuel supplies come through India. When India stopped allowing fuel trucks to pass its borders, fuel shortages took place across Nepal. Lack of fuel disrupted transport, emergency services-hospitals, operations etc, food supply chains, Transport came to a halt. People had to walk to get basic supplies. Ambulances, fire trucks, were all impacted. Factories & businesses were forced to shut down.

MEDICINES / MEDICAL SUPPLIES – Entire Nepali healthcare system came to a halt. Hospitals which were already weakened following the April earthquake, were further impacted & doctors & nurses struggling to help their people. Patients requiring chronic medications, surgical procedures, emergency care were the most vulnerable. There were no life-saving drugs or painkillers to give. Due to fuel shortages, doctors or medical care providers could not reach remote areas. Rural Nepal suffered the most

FOOD SHORTAGE – Entire food supply chain was impacted. Nepal’s food supplies also come through Indian borders. Nepali’s had to begin rationing food intake. Prices of food skyrocketed. Farmers could not transport their agricultural produce because there was no fuel. So agricultural products could not reach the people & were wasted.

Closure of Businesses/Factories – Businesses that relied on imports (from India) had to shut down resulting in job losses & an economic downturn. As Nepal’s biggest trade partner was India, the Indian sanctions severely affected Nepalis (another lesson for Sri Lanka over reliance on Indian imports)

Social & Psychological Impact – The blockade resulted in frustration leading to resentment & tensions & protests across the country. People feared for their basic survival. These are key issues Sri Lankans need to also ponder.

India’s punitive action against Nepal impacted 30million Nepalis.

Nepal shares a long border with India (over 1800 km) India’s concern is Nepal becoming a strategic base for China. However, India’s security concerns do not deem India has any right to undermine Nepal’s sovereignty. Nepal has every right to pursue its foreign policy. That foreign policy does not have to be what India demands. Moreover, if Nepal has not done anything to undermine India’s security, why should India interfere in Nepal’s sovereignty?

In inviting the self-appointed policemen of the world to South Asia/Asia, is it not India who has made the entire region vulnerable by becoming its strategic partner & going so far as to sign strategic defense pacts? Is it not this country together with its multiple minions who will one day destroy India’s defenses?

Weren’t these very minions all involved with the LTTE after India secretly trained them in India & are the one’s calling for war crimes against Sri Lanka? These agents are the ones who will undermine India’s national security. Sri Lanka or Nepal has never done so. The way India treats its neighbors, none of these citizens would even come forward to defend India in such a future scenario. All of India’s goodwill gestures to its neighbors are seen as ulterior motives by India without sincerity or genuine goodwill.

In 1987 India violated Sri Lanka’s territory with a parippu drop. There was no international condemnation & no UNHRC to hold red cards about violating international norms.

In 2015 India launched an economic blockade preventing food, essential goods, fuel, medicines passing India’s borders to Nepal. India closed all its entry/exit points to Nepal preventing goods reaching Nepal. Nepali people only suffered. Depriving civilians of essential goods in times of peace or even conflict is a violation of human rights under the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights (ICCPR).

These laws are good only on paper. Nothing was done against India.

• India had violated Article 2(1) – the Principle of Sovereignty (UN Charter)
• India had violated Article 2(7) – UN Charter prohibiting intervention in the domestic affairs of sovereign states

Nepal reached out to the international community following Indian imposed economic blockade & the humanitarian crisis that ensued. Nepal appealed to the UN, other countries, & international human rights organizations to pressure India to lift the blockade. Only diplomatic responses were forthcoming. Even the UNSC did not intervene.

What this means for Sri Lanka too is that, after allowing India to exceed interference in internal affairs in Sri Lanka, if it comes to even an India-created humanitarian crisis, the world would only issue the usual emotionless statements & Sri Lankans would suffer like Nepalese did. In handing over everything to India, Sri Lankans must prepare for a similar eventuality as that which Nepal faced. Nothing is enough for India.

While the world just looked on. It was China who came forward to supply fuel & humanitarian aid to Nepal. Several thousand metric tons of fuel was supplied via the Kerung border in Tibet (by Nov2015 20,000 metric tons of fuel sent) China sent over 1000 metric tons of medicines & humanitarian aid including blankets. China opened Rasuwa & Kerung border routes to supply rice, wheat flour & other foods to Nepal & even supplied construction materials (cement & steel)

Pakistan & Bangladesh showed solidarity with Nepal & even made fuel available through alternative routes.

Sri Lankans cannot suffer because its politicians/political parties fail to identify friends from foes & ensure diplomatic actions are taken to ensure Sri Lanka’s sovereignty, territory & resources are protected. Allowing foes access to anything that makes Sri Lanka vulnerable via secretly signed agreements will eventually make only Sri Lanka & its people suffer, the culprits will shake off all responsibility & the reactions of the UN/International community is a good example of what we can expect in the future.

Shenali D Waduge