The 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship between India and Nepal has come fully into the limelight following the recent Constituent Assembly elections in the latter. Mention of the treaty had earlier featured in the 40-point list of demands by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in 1996, as well as in the party's recent election manifesto. In those instances, the emphasis had been on removing 'unequal' elements, and not on 'scrapping' the agreement outright – a term that is now occasionally in evidence, though it is difficult to segregate official policy statements from casual reporting by the media.
It also needs to be recalled that, though the CPN (Maoist) has consistently emphasised the importance it attaches to changes in (or elimination of) treaties or agreements with India that the Maoists consider to be unequal, such views have been expressed by all major political parties in Nepal over the years. For its part, India's stance has always been that it is prepared to discuss all options – namely, continuation, termination (as is provided for in the agreement itself), or the negotiation of a new treaty. Indeed, some drafts for a revised treaty were prepared by both sides a decade or more ago, but there has been no meaningful discussion to take the matter forward.
There could well be differences of perception regarding the terms of the treaty. But such perceptions may not always take into account the international, regional, national and bilateral circumstances in which the treaty was formulated and signed. At the time, it may have been useful for Nepal to have a successor treaty to the Anglo-Nepal Treaty of 1923, which, as Nepal had conveyed to the United Nations in 1949, had confirmed Nepal's sovereignty and independence.
India's concern vis-à-vis the possible regional fallout of the developments in China in the context of the time is well documented. Writing to the Prime Minister of Burma in January 1950, Jawaharlal Nehru had said, "There is not much danger of any Chinese aggression across the Indian border. But I want to make it quite clear, if occasion arises, that the slightest attempt at such aggression whether in Nepal or India would be stoutly resisted by us." Nehru had advised against the formation of anti-Chinese blocs, which could aggravate the situation. There was a similar refrain in Nehru's letter to Indian chief ministers, and his statement in the Indian parliament in March 1950.