China`s Foreign Aid to Nepal: A Study of China`s Aid Objectives and Achievements

Abstract

Nepal has been one of the regular and first recipients of Chinese aid. Ever since the resumption of diplomatic relations in 1955, China`s relations with Nepal have been generally friendly. Due to the connections between Nepal and Tibet in the past and the former`s geographic location, China considers Nepal a country of strategic importance. This was particularly so during the Cold War years. China has had three major foreign policy interests in Nepal over the years-strategic, political, and economic. This article examines these major policy motivations for China`s aid to Nepal and postulates certain implications for China`s aid policy in the post-Cold War period. The article concludes that China`s aid has generally been successful in maintaining its strategic interests and countering the influence of India and other powers in Nepal, and that although superpower interests in Nepal may have been diminished in the post-Cold War years, China`s interest in Nepal will remain vital so long as its position in Tibet remains unchanged. This implies that China will continue its politics of aid to Nepal in order to maintain the latter`s commitment to supporting the former`s position in Tibet.