Landlockedness: Geopolitical Constraints of Nepalese foreign policy
The geopolitical situation in Nepal's world view has been
largely conditioned by its geographical position as a landlocked
country. A landlocked state in both law and geography is one which
has no sea-coast and which must, therefore, rely on one or more
neighbouring countries for access to the sea.[i] Nepal is one of the
30 landlocked countries. Since most of the landlocked countries are
also the least developed countries, underdevelopment has generally
led to two interrelated problems for these countries.
These countries are economically dependent on the larger
neighbouring transit countries. The dependence imposed by their
landlockdness has led to a situation where their economic development
becomes strongly conditioned by the economic development of the
transit countries. The second problem is that these countries also
become politically and economically vulnerable to coercion and to
manipulation by the transit countries. The role of these countries,
in international relation, is reduced as most have remained neutral
or are subjected to coordinate their foreign policies with other
countries. In some ways, the transit countries pose a constraint to
the external behaviour of landlocked countries because the latter
group has to bear same costs if their decision on some international
issues affect negatively or the interest of the former group. The
position of Nepal as a landlocked can fully be comprehended in the
light of its physical features. Swiss geologist, Toni Hagen, has
divided the country on the basis of its physical features into seven
regions. The Terai, the Siwalik Hills, The Mahabharat Lekh, The Nepal
Midlands, The Himalayas, The Inner Himalays, The Tibetan Marginal
Mountains.[ii] This perusal of the physical features of Nepal...