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All Roads Lead North: Nepal’s Turn to China by Amish Raj Mulmi. Westland. Pages 320. Rs799
Book Title: All Roads Lead North: Nepal’s Turn to China
Author: Amish Raj Mulmi
Maj Gen Ashok K Mehta (Retd)
Nepal, the small Himalayan nation wedged between two giant neighbours, China and India, has for more than a century sought to create sovereign space to act independently of India. Since 2015, stars got so re-aligned that Nepal decided to turn to China when two major Communist parties aligned and merged to form the Nepal Communist Party. It swept the polls with a two-thirds majority in the Lower House, simple majority in the Upper House, governments in six of seven provinces and victories in 80 per cent of local elections. Prime Minister KP Oli capitalised on such a breathtaking electoral success and political stability with his brand of ultra-nationalism following India’s clumsy reactions to Nepal’s non-inclusive Constitution of 2015, backed by China’s behind-the-scenes political activism. Almost all at once, Nepal’s Look North gaze was visible and this has been competently encapsulated in Amish Raj Mulmi’s ‘All Roads Lead North’.