Caught between India, China and the U.S., Nepal PM Prachanda struggles to strike a balance in foreign policy Premium

While Nepal Prime Minister Prachanda’s struggles at home turf are immense, he is faced with myriad challenges when it comes to foreign policy.

Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ appointed Narayan Prakash Saud, a Nepali Congress leader, as Foreign Minister on Sunday, after holding the portfolio for seven weeks himself. Domestic politics is so fractured that he was struggling to keep a stable Cabinet — Sunday’s was the eighth expansion since his appointment as the Prime Minister on December 25.

The current government of Prachanda, chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), which is the third largest party in Parliament, is supported by a motley of seven parties — from the Nepali Congress, the largest, to small ones with one to four seats. Prachanda has already gone for floor tests twice in his four months in power. By his own admission, it won’t be a surprise if he has to seek a vote of confidence again, as withdrawal of support by any of those parties would necessitate so as per the Constitution.

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Nepali politics continues to be in a constant flux. While Prachanda’s struggles at home turf are immense, he is faced with myriad challenges when it comes to foreign policy.

Prachanda has taken the helm at a time when there have been overt bids by Beijing to expand its sphere of influence in Nepal, where New Delhi traditionally enjoyed its clout, just as the Americans appear to have renewed their interest. Particularly after the passage of the Millennium Challenge Corporation-Nepal Compact (MCC), there has been a flurry of visits by U.S. officials to Kathmandu. Under MCC, the U.S. will provide $500 million in grants to build electricity transmission lines and improve roads in the Himalayan country.

As Nepali politicians and intelligentsia debated the MCC last year, Beijing minced no words to warn Washington not to impose anything against Nepal’s will. Meanwhile, ties with India are not in their best days.

“The biggest bane of Prachanda is that he is leading one of the weakest governments ever in terms of legitimacy,” said K.C. Khadga, a professor of international relations and diplomacy at Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu. “And there is a lack of trust from… say, neighboring countries and the U.S., given his track record, his own worldview and his party’s ideological and philosophical perspectives.”