It is the geographic fate of China and India that those two powerful and dynamic civilizations abut in the region of the world's highest mountains. The ebb and flow of their influence in the tangle of mountains and high plateaus separating Central and East Asia from the Subcontinent can be traced as far back as one cares go. Regarding Nepal, Indian strategic doctrine traces back 1950 when Indian leaders began reconsider their northern frontiers on the basis of the strategic heritage passed on them by British India, which held that the defensive frontiers of India lay in the mountain fastness of the Himalayas. In line with this, a treaty was signed between Nepal and India in July 1950 obligating both governments to inform each other of any serious friction or misunderstanding with any neighboring state likely cause any breach in the friendly relations subsisting between the two governments. Letters were also exchanged at the time providing that: Neither Government shall tolerate any threat the security of the other by a foreign aggressor. To deal with any such threat, the two Governments shall consult with each other and devise effective counter-measures.1 Indian leaders are determined uphold the special relationship between their country and Nepal that is founded on the 1950 treaty. China views the situation in the central Himalayas differently. From Beijing's perspective, Nepal is a neighbor with which the Chinese govern-