Nepal, July 17 -- Every few years, Nepal rediscovers its neighbourhood. A new government promises a reset with India, a fresh understanding with China and a development-driven foreign policy. Yet, the debate always ends where it began. Nepal's greatest foreign policy problem is not Delhi or Beijing. It is the weakness of the Nepali state. The real divide is no longer between India and China but between ambition and implementation.

Rabi Lamichhane's op-ed, published as the chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party visited New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, identified several real problems. He wrote about the gap between Nepal's potential and its performance, the need to move beyond grievance politics and the untapped promise o...