Is India–Nepal–China Trilateral Cooperation Possible?

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachanda, the chairman of the United Communist Party of Nepal (UCPN) (Maoist), visited India on April 27–30, 2013, shortly after he had returned from a week-long visit to China. During his visits to China and India, Prachanda proposed trilateral cooperation between India, Nepal and China. Although he assured India that this trilateral cooperation would be founded on the bilateral relations that Nepal already shares with India, he clearly did not elaborate on the nature of this trilateral cooperation and the issues that need to be discussed within this framework. He also spoke of joint ventures in which India and China could invest, and suggested hydel projects and developing Lumbini, which is of cultural and religious significance to all three countries, as the areas of cooperation. One of his arguments is that a prosperous Nepal is in the best interests of the two countries; and simultaneously, Nepal must also benefit economically from the two growing Asian economies.