Kathmandu, Sept. 18 -- The course of Sino-Nepal relations is likely to enter a new historical phase in the aftermath of the US exit from Afghanistan, and the signing of the 'Aukus' security pact this week between Australia, the UK and the US.

The associated decline in the importance of global terrorism is a defining feature of international politics. But there is also a sharper emphasis on great power rivalry, primarily in the context of China's expanding role globally, specifically in Eurasia.

The United States has now determined the Indo-Pacific as its core area of interest in this new period. How and to what extent the fundamentals of Sino-Nepal relations will be impacted by this structural change in geopolitics is yet to be determin...