Nepal, Jan. 6 -- It's possible that the differences inside the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) over the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) grant and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) loan proposals had nothing to do with the parting of ways between their two chairs. But considering that most rumours in Kathmandu often turn out to be true, foreign influence in the intensification of conflict of personalities can't be dismissed out of hand.

The spectre of a new Cold War between the People's Republic of China and the United States has raised fresh fears of smouldering conflicts throughout the world. Widespread conflicts usually begin in the name of ideologies of the political economy. The contest for a sphere of influence then becomes s...