10 June 2024, NIICE Commentary 9204
Bibek Dhoj Thapa

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal in August 2014 was the first visit to Nepal by an Indian Prime Minister in 17 years. One of the major factors influencing Modi’s Nepal policy has been religion, the same factor which has helped Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gain a dominating presence in the Lok Sabha since 2014. This article explores the religious dimension of Modi’s Nepal policy.

BJP’s Religious Agenda

The BJP set out three areas of foreign policy agenda in its manifesto for the General Election 2014, under the leadership of prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. One of these areas was to establish India as a global leader by leveraging India’s soft power capabilities. One of the four principal aspects of soft power used by the Modi government is ancient heritage and civilizational links, which also draw from the roots of Buddhism and Hinduism shared by other countries.

Modi’s First Term: Euphoria and Dysphoria

Indian PM Modi’s address to the constituent assembly during his visit to Nepal in 2014 was one of its biggest highlights. For the first time, Modi acknowledged that Lord Buddha was indeed born in Nepal, and throughout the session, he pronounced the word ‘Buddha’ five times. He suggested that Nepal should focus on developing religious sites across the country that are sacred to the people of Hindu and Buddhist faiths, which can attract religious tourism from India and the world. Modi also pointed out that Nepal was the Land of Sita, the wife of Lord Ram, which makes the Nepal-India relationship very special. During this visit, PM Modi visited the Pashupatinath Temple, a major temple of the Hindu god Shiva.

Despite the warmth of the 2014 visit and the anticipation of a new dawn for the relationship between the two states, the year 2015 brought it to an all-time low after India expressed its disagreement with the newly promulgated Constitution of Nepal. India imposed an ‘undeclared economic blockade’ on Nepal, right at the time when Nepal was struggling to rebuild itself from the devastating earthquake of 2015.

Modi’s 2018 bilateral visit focused on mending the ties after all was said and done. He chose to do so by putting religious diplomacy at the top of his visit’s theme. Modi’s 2018 visit started from Janakpur, the holy city of Nepal, the birthplace of Sita. There, he pledged 1 billion Indian rupees (USD 14.8 million) in aid for the development of the town and jointly inaugurated a “Ramayan Circuit” by launching the Janakpur-Ayodhya bus service with his Nepali counterpart, KP Sharma Oli. When he reached Kathmandu, he once again visited the holiest site of Nepal, the Pashupatinath Temple. He also visited the Muktinath Temple in Mustang, which is considered to be a temple of Lord Vishnu and is important to people of both faiths – the Hindu and Buddhist. Similarly, during his visit to Nepal in August 2018 to attend the 4th BIMSTEC Summit, he again visited the Pashupatinath Temple, and jointly inaugurated the 400-bed Nepal-Bharat Maitri Pashupati Dharmashala in Kathmandu, with PM Oli. This Dharmashala was constructed under Indian grant assistance of INR 140 million.

Modi’s Second Term: Quiet on the Political Front, Loud on the Religious

Indian PM Modi’s 2022 visit to Nepal was unconventional as he limited it to Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, and did not visit Kathmandu. On the 2566th anniversary of Lord Gautam Buddha’s birth, Modi arrived directly at Lumbini. Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba welcomed Indian PM Modi, and the two prime ministers sat down to offer prayers in the temple. The rest of the business was conducted only after the religious ceremony. During his visit, Indian PM Modi proposed a ‘Buddhist Circuit’ that would further boost religious tourism between the two countries. Modi also reiterated that their Ram is incomplete without Nepal and said that the Nepali people are equally happy as the Indians because a new Ram Mandir was then being built in India, referring to the Ram Mandir of Ayodhya.

BJP’s Perception of Monarchy and Secularism in Nepal

Nepal figures prominently in BJP’s foreign policy and the major factor behind this is Nepal’s identity as a Hindu state and the monarchy factor behind it. During the era of the monarchs, kings were viewed as avatars of Vishnu, establishing themselves as Hindu deities. In S.D. Muni’s book “Dabbling in Diplomacy”, he claims that the BJP is keen on restoring these elements in the identity of Nepal. He claims that PM Modi has assured the king that they will get him back in power, as Modi believes that monarchy and Hinduism represent two faces of the same coin. A bold claim made in his book is that during the blockade of 2015, India’s support for the rights of the Madhesi people was only a part of what it sought to achieve in Nepal. It was also pushing for the Hindu identity of Nepal to be reinstated. However, the ruling parties of Nepal decided to find a consensus on keeping the identity of Nepal as a secular country that would aspire to protect the “Sanatan religion” its people have been practising. The Indian side felt greatly offended by this matter, which was also attributed to the subsequent economic blockade on Nepal. On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has gone on public record and said that historically, Nepal has held a Hindu identity and hopes that this identity will return sooner or later.

Expectations during Modi’s Third Term

Indian Prime Minister Modi has just sworn in as the Prime Minister and formed his cabinet. Unfortunately, this time BJP could not claim a simple majority in the Lok Sabha required to form the government. Thus, he has formed the government with the support of his coalition partners of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

In Modi’s political journey from being the Chief Minister of Gujarat up until his second tenure, he had always enjoyed a healthy majority enabling him to pursue BJP’s religious policies freely and openly. However, this time, two of the major coalition partners of NDA, Janata Dal (United) and Telugu Desam Party, hold secular agendas unlike the BJP. Though some claim that Modi would continue to push for his Hindu agenda as there are no new faces in some of the major cabinet positions, such as the Ministries of External Affairs, Home, Defence and Finance, it is likely that there will be some checks and balance on Modi’s agendas of Hindutva during his third term.

Bibek Dhoj Thapa is Program Coordinator and Research Associate at NIICE.