Miles to go to win hearts and minds in Nepal

'Operation Maitri' is not a favour to Nepal. It's in India's interests to rebuild a new Nepal

The death toll in the deadly earthquake that devastated Nepal last week is likely to cross 10,000. And if that is not enough, the cost of reconstruction is estimated to be in excess of $10 billion, almost half of Nepal’s GDP. The country that receives nearly $1 billion of foreign aid every year, is going to struggle to arrange so much of resources on its own to get back on its feet.

India will have to do the bulk of reconstruction if it wants to win new friends and bring back all those in the neighbouring country who had, over the years, drifted towards China.  India and Nepal shared the best of relations till the 1990s. However, following the rise of Maoists in Nepal, a sizeable section of the population there began to question what they perceived as India’s interference in Nepal's internal affairs. As a result, China replaced India as Nepal's largest investor as well as trading partner. Consequently, a number of Indo-Nepal projects, some of them in the hydropower sector, have been languishing for years.

So hang on guys. Do not celebrate India’s ‘Operation Maitri’ just yet.

There is no denying that we were the first ones to reach out to the people of Nepal when they needed help the most. We deployed the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) within hours of the earthquake. The Prime Minister has made it a point to personally monitor relief and rescue operations. We have been doing all laudable and routine works to help our neighbours in need.

But do not forget that we conducted a mammoth rescue operation to help Sri Lanka when the island nation was devastated by Asian Tsunami in 2004. We are reported to have then despatched 14 ships, nearly 1,000 military personnel and many helicopters and airplanes to the island nation. We have a history of undertaking similar rescue missions in countries like Libya, Yemen and Iraq.

So what we have done in Nepal is just a repeat of what we have been doing for quite a while. The more difficult task of reconstruction lies ahead. In the interim, we have to ensure steady supply of essential items to the nature ravaged neighbouring country. There are already reports of prices skyrocketing as supply has dried up. Since Nepal is dependent on India for most of what it consumes, we run the risk of getting a fair share of the blame, unfairly though at this hour, if prices of essential items continue to rise.  

The crisis in Nepal has given us an opportunity to win the perception game there. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Kathmandu visit last year was seen as giving a big boost to suspicious-yet-inevitable relations between the two countries. A New York Times report had described the visit thus: “A deeply fractious country, Nepal has been unusually united in its embrace of Mr. Modi, the first Indian prime minister in 17 years to make a state visit here.” Now the Prime Minister has to build on those gains. And it will happen only when we help build a new Nepal.

After all, it is in our interest to build durable trust with our immediate neighbour. We share 1,580 kilometres of open borders with Nepal. And restoration of trust with the Himalayan country will add wings to our fight against terrorism and circulation of counterfeit currency notes.

Disclaimer: My sister became a citizen of Nepal after marriage. I therefore have vested interests in seeing that India and Nepal enjoy the best of relations.