The Taste of Northern Spy

Much as India's Nehru may hate the term, his government has always regarded the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal (pop. 8,500,000) as an Indian "sphere of influence." After the Chinese Communists moved into Tibet in 1950, Nehru said flatly: "The defense of Nepal is important to the security of India."

Last week, while India looked northward unhappily, Chinese and Nepalese negotiators in Katmandu toasted each other in orange soda pop and signed an eight-year treaty of trade and friendship drawn up in Peking. Under its terms the first Chinese Communist consulate will shortly open in Katmandu, and other Chinese "trade agencies" will be set up elsewhere on Nehru's side of the Himalayas. "Traders" in both Nepal and Tibet will enjoy diplomatic immunity, be free to transmit messages by wireless code and courier without police inspection.

Indians quickly began to see Chinese Communist agents streaming past Mt. Everest to spy with impunity. To Indian protestations, Nepalese replied that they have a 500-mile border with Tibet and could hardly be expected to reject Communist China's advances indefinitely. To drive home the point, Nepal's Prime Minister Tanka Prasad Acharya .assembled a twelve-man delegation and headed for Peking to talk business.

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