NEW DELHI: India's neighborhood outreach continues to be tempered with its security considerations. The government has informed Nepal that its citizens entering India from the Maldives , a country with which India's ties have seen a dramatic turnaround under a friendly government in Male, no longer require visa but those flying from China and Pakistan must continue to obtain one.

This visa conundrum which India faces with Nepal is reflective of the state of India's ties with its all 4 neighbours involved. While its relations with Pakistan have bordered on hostility, India has worked hard with China to address the trust deficit after the Doklam standoff and to ensure that security concerns of either country are not undermined.

It's with Nepal though that the relationship seems precariously poised with Kathmandu appearing keen to upgrade its economic and defence ties with China.

Nepal authorities don't seem particularly pleased with India's visa restrictions on Nepal citizens but have so far refrained from lodging a formal protest. However, as diplomatic sources said, the issue has been brought up in meetings with Indian officials. As is well known, Nepal citizens don't require a visa to travel to India.

Given the nature of close India-Nepal ties, many in Kathmandu believe asking Nepali citizens flying in directly from China to seek visa is inappropriate. The fact that india and China have themselves been discussing cooperation in third countries in the region under the + 1 formulation has not been lost on Nepal.

It was around 4 years ago that India asked airlines to ensure that no Nepal citizen was flown to India from China, Hong Kong and Macau without a valid Indian visa. Pakistan and the Maldives were added later to the list. India has now removed Maldives from the list and the only plausible reason is that the government now feels more confident of its relationship with Male which until last year seemed firmly in China's economic and security grip.

For India, Nepal's growing ties with China pose one of the most significant challenges to India's neighborhood policy. Nepal PM K P Oli is working to reduce his country's economic dependence on India as evident from the transit and transport agreement he signed with Beijing in 2016.

Nepal's attempts to upgrade its military ties with China have also not gone unnoticed here. Nepal's army chief P C Thapa was on a week-long visit to China this month and was quoted as having said in Beijing that Nepal was ready to step up cooperation with China in various areas and contribute to deepening the Nepal-China friendship.

