“When your neighbor’s house is on fire, you should help with a bucket of water”. This universally accepted phrase applies to everyone, except for our Neighboring country India. They’re just there to make things worse. Just a few months after Nepal was hit by the second biggest earthquake in its modern history, India was eager to present Nepal with another disaster in the form of political blockade. Going back into the past, we realize that this is not the first time India has cornered us into a wall with a political blockade but the third time.

It was at 1969, during the time of King Birendra when India imposed its first Political blockade on Nepal. But back then, Nepal wasn’t so dependent on India and the crisis was re-solved easily. 20 years later, India imposed the second blockade to show their dissatisfaction with Nepal’s recent trade with China. The blockade proved to be harsher than the previous one, severely crippling Nepal’s economy. It was only thanks to our other Neighbor China; we were able to withstand the tyranny. Few decades passed without any hitch and everyone was happy. The earthquake in Nepal sent the country two decades back, but we were recovering gradually. At times like these, you’d expect your closest neighbors to help you re-build and regrow. Even more, when you finally draft that constitution you started to build 20 years ago. But you thought wrong! India took the advantage of the Madesh conflict in the northern part of Terai to block food and fuel supplies and fueled the rage of Indian Immigrants in Nepal to create a vicious situation in the country, especially the capital City Kathmandu. The blockade continued for over a month and it finally seems to have calmed down now.

So, What’s new in the “On-Off-On-Off Love Story” between Nepal and India you may ask.  Apparently, everything that happened in the past has been forgotten and we’re best friends again. To show how forgiving Nepali are, Nepal sent our latest prime minister, Mr. KP Oli to visit different parts of India. India whole-heartedly accepted our “token of friendship” and treated him royally. It is the 2^nd time ever when India has treated someone from Nepal with such honor. “Senior government authorities here say India’s ability to apply balm to Oli’s hurt feelings, if not ego, will be crucial in deciding how future relations unfold. India is likely to make some significant gestures like hosting him as a guest in Rashtrapati Bhavan”, reported Indian Express.

India has been eyeing on Nepal’s sovereignty, this fact is the no-brainer. Could the “Red-carpet” treatment bestowed upon our Prime Minister be India’s way of saying, “Enjoy your summer break, cause the winter is coming!?” Whatever the future may hold for us, I guess we can all enjoy the momentary peace, until it lasts.