Prashant Kumar Sona, Second Secretary, Embassy of India on Sunday, July 10 inaugurated a school building and hostel for Shree Ghanteshwar Secondary School for Doti district in Nepal under grant assistance from the Government of India.
The project was carried out as a community development project for a cost of Rs 9.69 million with grant assistance from the Government of India under the India-Nepal Development Cooperation in the Education Sector.
This is one of the 75 initiatives that will be officially launched this year in Nepal as part of the “India@75 Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” which celebrates 75 years of India’s independence.
According to an official statement by the Embassy of India in Kathmandu, since 2003, India has taken up over 527 High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs) in Nepal and has completed 470 projects in the areas of health, education, drinking water, connectivity, sanitation and creation of other public utilities across all 7 provinces of Nepal at the grassroots level. Out of this, 34 HICDPs are in Sudurpashchim Province, including 3 projects in Doti District.
While the Indian government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is vigorously promoting infrastructure development and outreach programmes in Nepal, the country’s communist party leaders are busy meeting and discussing current political issues and the possibility of forming a Left alliance in Nepal with Chinese government officials.
According to reports, the head of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party, Liu Jianchao is scheduled to meet CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, Chairman of Unified Socialist Party Madhav Kumar Nepal, and senior leader Jhalanath Lhanal.
He has already met Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Foreign Minister Dr Narayan Khadka, and Maoist Center Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda”.
According to media reports, during the meeting, issues of mutual interest were discussed.
It is important to note that Nepal shares a border with five Indian states- Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. Nepal, being landlocked, heavily relies on India for the transportation of goods and services.
Nepal is cognizant of the simmering tensions between India and China over the Sino-Indian border, yet is not hesitant of engaging with Chinese authorities while accepting favours from India.
The long-standing India-China impasse
Beijing has claimed Arunachal Pradesh, an Indian state, as part of China and showed it on official maps as part of the south Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).
The Indian government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has, however, been vigorously promoting infrastructure development and outreach programmes in Arunachal Pradesh, despite China’s constant ‘warnings.’
The Tibetan spiritual teacher Dalai Lama visited the state in April 2017 to attend a ceremony in Arunachal Pradesh, which China strongly opposed. India, on the other hand, has been emphasising to China that Arunachal Pradesh is and will continue to be an important part of India.
During the Doklam impasse, where Indian and Chinese troops were locked in a tense staredown, India had made it clear that it would not be bullied by an increasingly revisionist China under the leadership of Xi Jinping.