Nepal, May 18 -- India and Pakistan's cross-border military operations have ceased for the moment, but the conflict continues to crystallise the nature of Nepal-India relations.

Over the last two weeks, India's official position and voices inside Nepal have diverged, creating inherent differences. Three features are remarkable. First, despite denouncing terrorism, Nepal has appeared willing to preach to India about peace, de-escalation and dialogue. Second, as the chair of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Nepal has adopted an unrealistic and idealistic view about regional cooperation that jars with the current reality. The third is that Nepal, as a whole, has failed to empathise with India's positions.

In th...