{"id":11220,"date":"2026-02-14T09:00:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T09:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/?post_type=product&p=11220"},"modified":"2026-02-14T09:51:43","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T09:51:43","slug":"backfire-in-nepal-how-india-lost-the-plot-to-china","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/product\/backfire-in-nepal-how-india-lost-the-plot-to-china\/","title":{"rendered":"BACKFIRE IN NEPAL HOW INDIA LOST THE PLOT TO CHINA"},"content":{"rendered":"
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About the Author<\/h3>\n

Sanjay Upadhya is a Nepalese author and analyst specialising in his country\u2019s politics and foreign relations. His previous books include Nepal and the Geo-Strategic Rivalry Between China and India (New York and London: Routledge, 2012) and The Raj Lives: India in Nepal (New Delhi: Vitasta, 2008). A Fulbright Scholar who has worked for the United Nations, Upadhya has contributed to BBC Radio, The Times of London, World Politics Review, Inter Press Service and Khaleej Times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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About the Book<\/h3>\n

Backfire in Nepal explores how China has become the ultimate beneficiary of India\u2019s democracy-promotion agenda in Nepal. New Delhi had made a bold bet in 2005, but one that contained two mutually fortifying flaws: the abolition of the monarchy and the empowerment of the former Maoist rebels. The world\u2019s only Hindu monarch and kingdom were bound to India in a special relationship that neither country needed to define or assert. True, Indians had been put off by successive Nepalese monarchs playing New Delhi off against Beijing. In retrospect, a little more compassion for Nepal\u2019s compulsions might have put things into sharper relief. Nepalese Maoists, being communists first, were trained to denounce Indian \u2018expansionism\u2019 before American \u2018imperialism\u2019. Experience may have impelled the senior leadership to make practical compromises. It was a leap of faith for New Delhi to trust the leadership to rein in their cadres\u2019 radicalism. More broadly, since India had also enlisted Western democracies, it needed to address their often-contradictory concerns throughout Nepal\u2019s turbulent transition. The Chinese could act purely on their national interests. India continues to misread how Beijing sees Nepal \u2013 both in terms of China\u2019s visions of the past and the future. This complicates the core trilateral challenge: ensuring that Nepal is not sucked deeper into the Sino-Indian vortex, only to be scorned for aggravating the Asian giants\u2019 rivalry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":11221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_cat":[69,71,88],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11220","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-new-arrivals","7":"product_cat-non-fiction","8":"product_cat-politics","9":"pa_book-author-sanjay-upadhya","11":"first","12":"instock","13":"shipping-taxable","14":"purchasable","15":"product-type-simple"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/11220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=11220"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.crisscrosssolutions.in\/Vitasta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=11220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}