A Maoist Fight in the Himalaya

With Indian encouragement, Nepal's democratic forces are coalescing into a fragile coalition against the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), which appears determined to go to the next level and seize state power in Kathmandu. 

Beyond a tender regard for Nepal's parliamentary democracy, Indian opposition to the Maoists has an inevitable geopolitical component. India and China have been engaged in a war of words over several touchpoints including the eastern Indian province of Aranuchal Pradesh, which China sporadically claims is a province of southern Tibet. There have also been confrontations over parts of Kashmir. In New Delhi, there are growing suspicions that the Beijing regards the Maoists in Nepal as a proxy army. 

Now the Maoist push for power has attracted the concern and action of India, which fears that Nepal would abandon its traditional role as a virtual satellite of New Delhi and become a bastion of Chinese influence on its northern border if the Maoists triumph.  In recent weeks, India has gone beyond encouraging Nepal's shaky democratic parties to displaying some anti-Maoist background.