By throwing money at Nepal, China limiting India's influence in the region

China can spread a lot of largesse, but India offers its neighbours a valuable ideal that Beijing can't

If things go as planned, one day soon Chinese trains will pull into Kathmandu, Nepal, on a new railroad built to lessen the landlocked Himalayan country’s dependence on India.

The proposed China-Nepal railroad, among a clutch of infrastructure deals signed by Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli in Beijing last week, underscores a new geopolitical reality. China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative is extending Beijing’s influence deep inside countries that India sees as part of its sphere of influence. From railroads in Nepal to ports in Sri Lanka to an airport in the Maldives, China’s growing infrastructure footprint is impossible to