High politics: Why Mount Everest’s new height is as much about diplomacy as measurements

China and Nepal agreed on a new official height for Mount Everest on Tuesday, as Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and his Nepalese counterpart pressed the button to reveal the new measurement during a virtual conference.  

The new height of the world’s highest peak is 8,848.86 metres, which is slightly higher than both Beijing’s and Kathmandu’s previous measurements. Both countries sent teams to measure the peak within the past 12 months, and the result ended any differences about the height of the world’s most famous mountain.  

However, it seems there was far more to the announcement than mere measurements. Foreign policy experts think it has as much to do with geopolitics as geography. The cooperation on Mount Everest is being reflected elsewhere in a warming relationship between China and Nepal.

Srikanth Kondapalli, a professor in Chinese studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, told The Independent that China had been trying to reduce India’s influence in Nepal by offering economic support to the Himalayan nation.  

“Since Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Nepal in 2019, we have seen an increased attempt by Beijing to build up its influence in the Himalayan nation,” Kondapalli said. “The Chinese ambassador in Kathmandu has been very active in facilitating coalition between political rivals in Nepal.”  

More recently, China’s defence minister Wei Fenghe visited Nepal last month, and the two countries agreed to restart various exchange and training programmes. Beijing also promised to begin the supply of non-lethal military aid to Nepal in the coming months, allowing both sides to resume defence cooperation.  

And when China’s state broadcaster, CGTN, initiated a spat with Nepalese citizens in May after the state broadcaster claimed that Mount Everest was on the Chinese side in a tweet, it triggered a backlash from Nepalis users which later saw the broadcaster claim Everest was on the China-Nepal border, Kondapalli said. “This shows that there has been some effort to politicise Mount Everest since Xi Jinping’s visit in 2019.”  

At the same time, the relationship between India and Nepal has been strained since a border blockade in 2015, as Madhesi activists in Nepal imposed an economic blockade along the Indian-Nepalese border, causing major hardship for Nepal’s economy and livelihood.  

According to Kondapalli, many Nepalese believed that India was behind the economic blockade and that caused anti-India sentiment to increase in the Himalayan country.  “Some political leaders in Nepal want to reduce the country’s dependence on India, so they turned to China,” Kondapalli said.

“Over the last five to six years, China has been wooing Nepal with the Belt and Road initiative and other infrastructure projects. However, with examples of some countries falling into the trap of China’s debt diplomacy, India has been warning Nepal that unless they require these infrastructure projects, it could be very costly for them in the future if they try to build closer ties with Beijing.”  

In order to regain its influence in Nepal, India has sent a number of high-level officials to the Himalayan nation over the past few months. Indian foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla visited Kathmandu late last month while the country’s Army Chief and top intelligence officials have also visited Nepal over the past few months. 

Kondapalli pointed out that while China had tried to woo Nepal over with economic aid and infrastructure projects, geographical factors and the deep cultural and historic ties between India and Nepal made it difficult for Beijing to completely replace India’s role in the Himalayan nation.  

“The distance between China’s manufacturing hubs and Nepal is very far, so the cost to transport products to Nepal could be very high,” Kondapalli said. “As a landlocked nation, this is a factor that Kathmandu can’t ignore. Additionally, there are millions of Nepalese living in India and they bring back a considerable amount of income to Nepal every year.”

Despite the rising tension between China and India due to the ongoing border dispute, Kondapalli said it was unlikely for Nepal to become the next cause of conflict between Beijing and New Delhi. “Even if the railway and infrastructure between Nepal and China were developed, the geographic factors will make the cost of transporting supplies and aids to Kathmandu very high,” he told The Independent.  

“On top of that, China also has a territorial problem in Nepal, as Beijing erected nine building on Nepalese land in September. The move is viewed as part of Beijing’s efforts to reduce the number of Tibetan refugees arriving in Nepal, which has dropped dramatically over the last few years. However, I believe India will continue to maintain a certain level of influence on Nepal and the Himalayan country will also find India’s support indispensable.”