Nepal earthquake: India scores on aid diplomacy, China lags

NEW DELHI: India's mammoth presence on the ground in Nepal within hours after Saturday's earthquake wrought widespread devastation has dwarfed all other foreign aid pouring into the Himalayan country. Now, China, which overtook India as Nepal's largest foreign investor in 2014, is busy trying to catch up with New Delhi's humanitarian diplomacy.

India's response to the disaster in Nepal disaster was instantaneous and across sectors. Having undertaken some big ticket humanitarian and rescue missions in the past decade - Asian tsunami, Libya, Iraq and most recently Yemen - India has built up a reputation of a white knight. China was caught off-guard during the tsunami, but during the Libya crisis of 2011, it mobilized its warships to evacuate its nationals from a conflict-zone for the first time. A few weeks ago, while India was picking up nationals from over 32 countries along with over 4000 of its own from war-torn Yemen, China quietly sent warships and planes to once again bring back its own people.

In Nepal though, the Indian and Chinese presence have strong geopolitical undertones which prompted the Nepalese government to be more even-handed in its statements and even going to the extent of turning away aid from Taiwan at a time when Nepal can do with all the help it can get.

The Chinese government too is trying to gloss over the obvious comparisons. Answering questions in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said, "China and India are neighbours of Nepal. We would like to work together and coordinate positively with India in our assistance efforts in Nepal to help it overcome the difficulties and rebuild its homeland."

It's no surprise that India would be in there early. India enjoys a familiarity with the Nepalese system and people that's almost unique, including with its armed forces which are leading the rescue and relief efforts. It's also to be expected that India would rush in to help for strong political reasons - specially if they want to deny space to either China or Maoists. In fact, it would be surprising if India did not do all that it's doing.

While Indian assistance at this time has been welcomed across Nepal, India is also, if past experience is anything to go by, the only country to evoke popular resentment and hostility in that country for a host of reasons. Whether India's mammoth operation can change public opinion, it's not certain yet. China in 2014 overtook India as the largest investor in Nepal, particularly in infrastructure and power sectors, and Nepal-China trade has been outstripping Indo-Nepal trade for some time now.

China does not inspire such strong sentiments. Inspite of Beijing's strictures to Kathmandu for its hospitality to Tibetan refugees, Chinese presence is generally welcomed in Nepal. In fact, after the rescue and relief phase, when the operations move to rehabilitation and reconstruction, it's more likely to see a greater Chinese presence. Reconstruction and rebuilding are areas where India falters, and China shines. The Chinese are generally more efficient, more respectful of time-bound deliveries of infrastructure projects than India. That has been a traditional weakness of the Indian system, which has not changed much.

So far, the only neighbouring country where India has delivered on the ground is Afghanistan. Even in Myanmar India faltered. Will India be different in Nepal?