India’s Nepal policy has oscillated between an open-border, currency-pegged friendship and friction over the 2015 Constitution, the Kalapani map and EPG report non-acceptance. Examine the structural irritants and the recent stabilisation.
Subtopic: IR · India and its neighbourhood
How to structure your answer
Introduction: India and Nepal share an open border under the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship, with a pegged Nepalese rupee at 1.6 INR and over 6 million Nepalese living in India.
Body: Three dimensions — (i) Irritants: Nepal's Constitution (September 2015) was followed by a Madhesi blockade; the 2020 'new political map' included Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura; the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) report (2018) remains unaccepted; (ii) Connectivity wins: Motihari-Amlekhgunj petroleum pipeline (September 2019, 69 km), Jaynagar-Janakpur railway (April 2022), Arun-III hydropower (900 MW under SJVN); (iii) China factor: Nepal-China Trans-Himalayan Railway feasibility study and 2017 BRI MoU; the pro-China KP Sharma Oli government dissolved in mid-2024 to a Prachanda-Deuba coalition that recalibrated toward Delhi.
Way forward / Conclusion: Receive the EPG report, conclude the long-pending Pancheshwar DPR under the Mahakali Treaty 1996, expand 10,000 MW power-purchase agreements and let states (UP, Bihar) lead micro-cooperation under BBIN MVA.
Written within the word limit
135 words · target 150 words · 9 min
Introduction: India and Nepal share an open border under the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship, with a pegged Nepalese rupee at 1.6 INR and over 60 lakh Nepalese in India under Article 7 of the Treaty.
Body: Three dimensions trace structural irritants and recent stabilisation. First, friction — Nepal's Constitution (September 2015) was followed by a Madhesi blockade; the 2020 'new political map' included Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura; the EPG report (2018) remains unreceived in New Delhi. Second, connectivity wins — Motihari-Amlekhgunj petroleum pipeline (September 2019), Jaynagar-Janakpur railway (April 2022), and Arun-III hydropower (900 MW under SJVN). Third, China factor — the Trans-Himalayan Railway feasibility study and 2017 BRI MoU stall while the Prachanda-Deuba coalition recalibrates toward Delhi after Oli's 2024 dissolution.
Conclusion: Receive the EPG report, conclude the Pancheshwar DPR under the Mahakali Treaty 1996, expand 10,000 MW power-purchase agreements and let UP and Bihar lead micro-cooperation under BBIN MVA.
What an examiner expects to see
- Treaty of Peace and Friendship 1950; open border and currency peg (1.6 NPR per INR)
- Nepal Constitution 2015 — Madhesi blockade 2015-16 strained ties
- Nepal's 2020 'new political map' includes Kalapani, Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura (Sino-Indian Mahakali confluence)
- Eminent Persons Group (EPG) report on bilateral framework (2018) — not accepted by India
- Motihari-Amlekhgunj petroleum pipeline (September 2019, 69 km)
- Jaynagar-Janakpur railway (April 2022); Arun-III hydropower 900 MW under SJVN
- Mahakali Treaty 1996 — Pancheshwar multipurpose project DPR pending
Concrete cases, schemes and judgments
- Treaty of Peace and Friendship 1950
- Motihari-Amlekhgunj petroleum pipeline (2019)
- Jaynagar-Janakpur railway (2022)
- Arun-III hydropower project
- Eminent Persons Group Report (2018)
- Mahakali Treaty 1996