Interview  with Former Dy NSA (Mauritius ) Former DG BSF and former DG MP and Nepal affairs expert VIVEK JOHRI

Ever since the Monarchy got abolished in Nepal, the country has been in a state of constant political instability, with the three main parties NC, UML and Maoists playing a game of musical chairs for yielding power. Nepal’s people watched, watched and watched - and decided to do something. Come 2026, and the world witnessed a peaceful backlash of people’s power in Nepal. A strong mandate emerged in favour of the young generation of leaders. Thus, we now have a strong and stable government formed by a relatively new party, the RSP, which in the words of Rabi Lamichhane its Chair, “is Nepal’s new political reality, a young force that has irreversibly challenged an ossified polity”. Note the pun - “ossified polity”. So, the political tone in Kathmandu has shown a definitive change. The new government is claiming to aim to shift its outlook on Nepal-India relations from the prism of ‘geopolitical friction’ to ‘development diplomacy’. The was reflected in the recent visits to Delhi by Rastriya Swatantra Party chair Rabi Lamichhane and Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal. Both displayed signs of sincere attempts of engagement between the two neighbours. India-observers in Nepal had noticed that these visits received a lot of warmth and goodwill from India. Then, is India now ready to respond with a fresh approach?

• To build up on this positive start, India needs to be proactive in generating a feeling of cooperation without coercion - something it has been accused of numerous times in the past. We need to remember that the emerged young political actors of Nepal will not follow the traditional style of bilateral diplomacy as practised by thelikes of NC, UML or Maoist leaders in the past.

• This will also mean that managing relations with Nepal will require greater sensitivity to Nepali public opinion. That should have been the easiest part but probably India took it for granted and portrayed itself as the ever-present ‘elder brother’. Never realising or caring that this attitude often crossed the border to that of a ‘bully (not caring) elder brother’.

• Economic cooperation will continue to be a central pillar of India- Nepal relations in the future also. The wide spectrum of economic relations includes hydropower, cross-border railway connectivity,  integrated border check posts to boost trade, tourism, and investments.

• India also needs to have a more proactive engagement strategy in areas which have value/ attraction to Nepal’s younger generation. This may include increased educational partnerships, digital innovation partnerships, startup ecosystems, and employment opportunities. The impasse over recruitment of Gurkhas from Nepal in Indian Army also needs attention for its resolution.

• Two other areas which can generate a lot of goodwill in fairly short time are the impact of Bollywood and Cricket. Stereotyping of Nepalis in Bollywood films has always an irritant among common Nepali people. India needs to correct it on priority. Starting Indo- Nepal joint ventures by Bollywood producers should be encouraged. BCCI can also start engaging with CAN more proactively. On its part, the new leadership of Nepal also need to be imaginative constructively. There are the security implications for India on which Nepal needs to be sensitive. A friendly long and porous open border between the two countries have its problems too. We have seen that in the past ISI-backed networks of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed used Nepal as a staging and transit zone. Radicalisation in the border areas, Fake currency and narcotics smuggling using open border had been a threat to India’s security in the past. India-Nepal cooperation on these issues had been excellent in the past and needs to remain so with the new political set-up in Nepal. So, while India will need to do a lot but ultimately it takes two to tango.