He also sacked his hawkish defence minister Ishwar Pokhrel, who is said to have opposed the invite to the plain-talking Indian Army Chief

By inviting Army Chief General MM Naravane for a visit, Nepal appears to be making amends to resolve the months-long diplomatic chill set off by its unilateral cartography to annex three disputed territories along India’s border.

Ties dipped after General Naravane alluded to Chinese pressure while critiquing Nepal’s opposition to an alternative road India inaugurated for pilgrims visiting the Mansarovar in Tibet. That he is now the face of a possible diplomatic reset has its own significance. Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli had punched way above his weight by embedding the new map that included the disputed Limipyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani into the national constitution to validate it. School books later incorporated the changes, but Oli has since softened and stopped their distribution to create the atmospherics for the talks.

He also sacked his hawkish defence minister Ishwar Pokhrel, who is said to have opposed the invite to the plain-talking Indian Army Chief. The sensitive defence portfolio is now with Oli. Nepal’s attempt at map-making happened when India was dealing with Chinese intrusions along the Ladakh border amid the coronavirus outbreak.

India’s matching response to the Chinese ingress and its resolve to stay put in the icy heights it strategically occupied on the south bank of the Pangong lake despite the onset of winter—creating a Siachen-like situation in the process—ought to have sent a no-nonsense message to the neighbourhood. The mutual attempt to break the ice also comes at a time when there are credible reports of Chinese land grab in Nepal’s northwest.

Oli had played the nationalism card against India to essentially fend off intra-party challenges to his leadership. That it was a zero-sum game was always known as Oli is again fighting with his back to the wall against faction leader and former PM Prachanda. By ceremonially giving the rank of Honorary General of the Nepal Army to Gen Naravane, Oli is doing a chameleon and trying to turn over a new leaf. As for India, rapprochement is in its supreme national interest, as Pakistan’s deep state is known to be using Kathmandu as a staging ground for Delhi-facing terror. The sooner bilateral ties are restored, the better.