Abstract

This study examines the transformation of Nepal’s foreign policy from an Indian-aligned “special relationship” to a strategy of sophisticated diversification between 1950 and 1962. Utilizing a neoclassical realist framework, it argues that the institutionalization of Himalayan equidistance was a deliberate orchestration by the monarchy to ensure domestic survival and sovereign parity rather than a passive reaction to regional shifts. The analysis identifies King Mahendra’s December 1960 royal coup as the critical domestic catalyst. By dismantling the democratic Koirala ministry and leveraging the “China card” against a disgruntled New Delhi, Mahendra successfully framed the democratic opposition as foreign-tethered, creating the nationalist leverage needed to welcome Beijing as a non-interfering partner. This diplomatic shift was validated by the 1961 Sino-Nepali Boundary Treaty, which granted Nepal territorial gains and symbolic sovereignty, and the Kathmandu-Kodari Highway agreement, which physically breached the Himalayan barrier to reduce economic dependence on India. Ultimately, the 1962 Sino-Indian War shattered India’s exclusive security umbrella and solidified the China card as a permanent feature of Kathmandu’s statecraft. The study concludes that this pivotal era permanently replaced total alignment with a resilient framework of strategic balancing between two competing giants.