Foreign Policy during King Mahendra's Rule in Nepal : The Equal Friendship Policy towards India and China

How could Nepal, a land-locked country sandwiched between two giant neighbours, India and China, preserve its existence and its right to national development in confronting pressure from both neighbours? On 30 January 1956, the then Prime Minister T. P Acharya expressed his determination to modify Nepal’s “special relationship” with India in the direction of “equal friendship” with all countries, thus introducing a new dimension to Kathmandu’s diversification policy. This paper will focus on this policy on a regional level during reign of King Mahendra (1955-1972). There are three main objectives of this study: (a) To use the term “equal friendship” to describe the regional policy towards India and China; (b) To reveal the historical process of the implementation of the policy; and (c) To redefine the contents and features of the “equal friendship” policy towards Nepal’s two neighbours. The paper begins with a brief history of the special relationship between Nepal and India before King Mahendra acceded to the throne. The second part of the paper is a discussion of the three periods of the implementation of the “equal friendship” policy towards India and China. The final part of the paper offers definitions of three aspects of the “equal friendship” policy in three patterns: (a) Maintaining balance in peacetime; (b) Using one party to restrain the other when Nepal felt pressured or threatened; (c) Taking a strict neutral stand in the event of regional conflicts