Nishikant Dubey Blames Rajiv Gandhi’s Foreign Policy for Tilting Nepal Towards China

BJP Parliament member Nishikant Dubey on Monday attacked the Congress party, strongly censuring its past foreign policy approach. He accused it of being guided by the interests of a single political family and has had long-term deleterious impacts on India as well as countries in the region.

Posting on X (formerly Twitter), Dubey claimed, "Congress' foreign policy was family-centric, and India is still reaping the consequences of it. Today, the world's lone Hindu nation no longer exists."

Referring to events in 1988, Dubey blamed former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with embolding his personal grievances to take precedence over India's diplomatic policy regarding Nepal. He alleged that while visiting the country, Rajiv Gandhi made a bid to visit the holy Pashupatinath Temple at Kathmandu — a place where only Hindus are used to go — but was repelled.

"Non-Muslims are not allowed to enter Mecca, and likewise, non-Hindus cannot enter Nepal's Pashupatinath Temple. When Rajiv Gandhi was denied entry, he did not take it personally," Dubey accused.

After the incident, Dubey alleged that the Indian government reacted by raising customs duties on goods heading to Nepal, which placed economic pressure on the Himalayan country and pushed it towards China. He stated that under such pressure, King Birendra of Nepal at the time signed an agreement with China for arms and foodgrains.

This series of events, in the view of Dubey, reached its climax in 1989 when India imposed an economic blockade on Nepal, further deteriorating the bilateral relationship and opening up a space for China to extend its footprint.

The BJP MP also made contentious allegations regarding India's intelligence role in Nepal's internal policies, claiming that, "RAW officer Amar Bhushan, who is alive to tell the tale, was mandated to eliminate King Birendra and bring Prachanda, leader of a China-supported faction, to power. Nepal is no longer a Hindu state because of this."

Dubey made the statements in the wake of recent criticism by the Congress party of the foreign policy of the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as ineffective. Dubey phrased his comments as a reflection on what he characterized as Congress' history of mistakes on the global stage.