Analysis | China scores as Nepal plays hardball with India over border ‘blockade’

New Delhi or Beijing? As Nepal’s new prime minister weighs his maiden foreign destination on assuming office, China finds itself in the middle of a high-stakes stand-off in South Asia, where its growing reach is prising open India’s hold over the region.

“Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli has been invited by both India and China. He can visit either first. No decision has been made yet,” the Nepalese premier’s media adviser Pramod Dahal told the South China Morning Post.

Dahal’s statement comes amid what Nepal is calling an undeclared economic blockade by India, cutting off fuel and other essential supplies to the country that acts as a buffer between China and India.

Nepal and India have been locked in a war of words since Nepal adopted its new constitution in September. Unhappy with their status as a result of the new constitution, ethnic groups on Nepal’s southern plains adjoining India have been protesting against Kathmandu, demanding amendments. Nepal alleges India, which is siding with the demands for constitutional changes, is encouraging the protests and using its border forces and customs to block goods traffic, starving landlocked Nepal of supplies, especially fuel.

READ MORE: Life gets harder for Nepalis in wake of unofficial Indian blockade

China, whose help after April’s earthquake in Nepal earned it significant goodwill, lost no time in coming to its rescue again. Responding to Nepal’s appeals for help following the blockade, Beijing rushed fuel supplies and agreed to open the trade routes closed since the earthquake.