Nepal, Oct. 29 -- ight months ago in this space, I argued that Nepal's crisis is better explained by homegrown institutional decay than by 'foreign hands'. And here we go again: the India question is back at the centre of our politics.

Not through a foreign plot this time, but through a minister's words in Delhi. At the NDTV World Summit last week, Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle, who is also vice-chair of the RSP, said: "Our generation is different. We have seen the world, and our aspirations are economic. We want good jobs, good governance and good relations with our neighbours. So I can say with great happiness that the era of associating Nepali nationalism with anti-Indianism is now over."

Picture the scene. A globetrotting, highly c...