Barely days after Nepal's newly-appointed Prime Minister Prachanda visited India, Chinese state media has issued a stern warning to Kathmandu that its 'independence' and 'reputation' will be severely damaged if it continues to drift away from Beijing and inches closer to New Delhi.

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The Global Times, a state-owned English newspaper, said in an article that China feels cheated after Kathmandu suddenly decided to stall relationship with China and revive close ties with its traditional ally India.

"Obviously, China feels tricked," the publication wrote. "When Kathmandu needed Beijing to relieve pressure from New Delhi, it got close to China and signed a series of crucial agreements with Beijing which would help Nepal get rid of its reliance on India."

"But once India's attitude toward Kathmandu relaxed a bit and the former made some promises to the latter, Nepalese politicians immediately put the nation's ties with China on the back burner," it added.

The article cited a warning released by Prachanda's predecessor K.P Oli  which stated that all key infrastructure agreements signed between China and Nepal would be affected if the new Prime Minister continues to extend his friendly overtures to New Delhi.

Global Times also accused India of interfering in Nepal-China bilateral relationship, adding that New Delhi was feeling the heat over the recent friendly ties developed between Beijing and Kathmandu.  

"China has never disturbed India-Nepal relations, but New Delhi has been interfering (in) Sino-Nepalese ties every once in a while," it noted. "Hence from whatever perspective, Beijing is more deserving of Nepal's trust."

Meanwhile, foreign experts alleged that New Delhi was getting increasingly uncomfortable over Nepal's recent friendly ties with China, which was developed under Nepal's former Prime Minister K.P Oli, whose Pro-China policies was said to be aimed at reducing Kathmandu's overreliance on India's economic aid.  

The political tension between India and Nepal over Kathmandu' recently-adopted constitution also played a key role in shaping K.P Oli's pro-China policies. India was apparently unhappy that Nepal was unwilling to accommodate its concerns in its new constitution.   

In the meantime, India and China are reportedly pursuing cold war strategy to increase influence in each other's  traditional territories. While China has been pushing hard to create strong foothold in the southern part of Asia, India has been trying to increase its influence in the Southeast Asia region.

India and China are mainly perceived as emerging economic powers, which are trying to enhance their economic and diplomatic clout in the fast changing world. 

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