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The US-China geopolitical tango in Nepal continues to provide all kinds of novel twists. Most recently, the two countries openly clashed during the recent MCC Nepal Compact ratification process. 

Even as these foreign powers jostled, Nepali political parties were busy slinging mud at each other.   

Nepal’s federal parliament did ratify the compact, as the Americans wished, but in the run-up to ratification Beijing tried mighty hard to stop it. It sees the $500 million development grant to Nepal as a part of America’s strategy to encircle China. But Chinese officials are themselves evasive when explaining why the compact is ‘anti-China’. 

What is beyond doubt is China’s anger at the compact’s parliamentary endorsement. 

“Nepali leaders are yet to realize the consequences of [the ratification of] the MCC compact,” a Beijing-based Chinese foreign ministry official who was not authorized to speak on the matter told ApEx on the condition of anonymity. “When they do realize, I am afraid it will be too late”. He chose not to elaborate on what he meant by “consequences”. 

The official, however, did say that the Chinese foreign ministry has reviewed its Nepal strategy post-compact ratification. 

The foreign ministry in Beijing has apparently concluded in its review that China’s presence in Nepal is weakening. President Xi Jinping is sending Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Kathmandu to explore ways to turn things around, says the Chinese official. 

He adds that the Chinese government is also unhappy with its Kathmandu-based diplomats for their supposed failure in curbing anti-Chinese activities.   

Hou in a spot 

The Chinese foreign ministry believes its Nepal representative, Ambassador Hou Yanqi, has failed to stop anti-Chinese activities and to effectively coordinate with Nepali political parties. 

A Chinese official associated with China’s diplomatic corps in Kathmandu told ApEx that in the lead up to the compact’s endorsement, there was lack of coordination among the Chinese agencies handling Nepal. Also speaking anonymously, he said the communication gap between Beijing and the Chinese Embassy was also growing. 

“The presence of the Chinese Embassy was weak,” says the official. “There are many things that went on here that our foreign ministry wasn’t aware of. She [Hou] could not coordinate and there was a communication gap with Beijing.”  

The official also blames ineffective coordination between Beijing and the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu for the MCC compact’s endorsement.  

“Ambassador Hou should be answerable for the anti-Chinese activities that might erupt in Nepal following the compact’s passage,” he says. 

Even as Ambassador Hou appears not to be in the good books of the Chinese foreign ministry, Chinese officials in Kathmandu hold their foreign ministry as responsible for China’s waning influence in Nepal. 

“As Nepal is a strategically important country for China, Beijing should have appointed a strong diplomat in Kathmandu, someone with a good political background or even a high-level foreign ministry official,” he told ApEx. “Beijing instead picked a junior official and she could not handle her responsibilities effectively.” 

The official hinted that Beijing could be looking for Hou’s replacement to lead its Kathmandu mission. 

Ambassador Hou’s leadership had started coming into question at the start of 2021 when she failed in her brief to keep the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) united. 

Wang’s meaningful visit  

China decided to send its foreign minister to Kathmandu while the Chinese Communist Party was holding its Annual National People’s Congress, suggesting an unusual level of urgency at the unfolding events in Nepal. 

Unlike what has been reported in sections of Nepali media, Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the Chinese officials ApEx spoke to say Wang’s upcoming visit is both unplanned and unprecedented. 

Chinese officials say Wang’s main agenda in Kathmandu is to reassess Beijing’s geopolitical and security challenges, as China no longer feels secure in Nepal. 

“Implementation of the BRI projects in Nepal is important for Beijing,” says a second Kathmandu-based Chinese official who has long liaised between Kathmandu and Beijing. He was also speaking on the condition of anonymity. “But this time Beijing is more worried about the security challenges emanating from the compact’s approval,” 

During his visit, Foreign Minister Wang will also take stock of the political climate in Kathmandu. 

Beijing sees the current Nepali Congress-led government as pro-Western and anti-China. But its favorable perception of CPN (Maoist Center) led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN (Unified Socialist) led by Madhav Kumar Nepal has also changed after the compact’s ratification. 

The Chinese official says the CCP is unhappy with Dahal’s double standards on the MCC compact. 

“China wants the communist parties of Nepal to go into elections as a united force, and it is willing to play the role of an intermediary,” says the liaising Chinese official. This will also be the message Foreign Minister Wang will convey leaders of communist parties. 

Until six months ago, Beijing was confident that Nepal would not approve the US development grant. It had rested its trust on Dahal and other communist leaders like Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal. That trust has since been shattered.   

“We tried hard to stop the MCC compact’s parliamentary approval, but we were left with no option when even the leaders who had earlier assured us of the compact’s failure started shaking under US pressure,” says the Chinese official in Kathmandu. 

The MCC saga has been a sobering experience for China. Beijing is reportedly reassessing its relations with Nepali leaders, particularly those it had trusted before. 

China is angling for new ways to engage Nepal post-MCC compact ratification. This exploration starts with Wang’s visit. 

The Tibetan community of Nepal celebrated their new year, Lhosar, in the presence of members of the diplomatic community. In attendance at the ceremony in Jawalakhel on March 5 were American Ambassador to Nepal Randy W. Berry, British Ambassador Nicola Pollitt, Swiss Ambassador Elisabeth von Capeller and Australian Ambassador Felicity Volk.

Also in attendance were other high-ranking officials from the US and French embassies as well as representatives from the EU and the UNHCR.

The Tibetan community worshiped a photo of Dalai Lama, their spiritual leader at the program organized by the Lazimpat-based Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office.

Foreign dignitaries at the meet did not speak even though they participated in an exchange of greetings with the Tibetan community.

The community had not been able to celebrate their new year or any other cultural event for the past two years due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic.

While Nepal has provided some refugees with Refugee Cards, many others have been deprived of them. Nepal has not given Tibetan refugees identifying documents after 1995. The refugees say they are denied even basic rights in the absence of identifying documents and have repeatedly made their case with the Nepal government. They have not got a hearing. 

Kathmandu University and North Korea are in talks, exploring ways to conduct joint research in various fields. Kathmandu University officials met North Korean officials recently to carry out research studies in agriculture, information technology and hydropower, says Kathmandu University Registrar Dr Subodh Sharma.

North Korean Ambassador to Nepal Jo Yong Man had reached Dhulikhel on January 5 to attend the meeting.

 “North Koreans are experts in hydro-power,” a KU professor who attended the meeting told ApEx, adding, “We can develop Nepal’s hydropower sector with the use of their skills.” He, however, says the university has not signed any agreement with North Korea.

Kathmandu University Vice-Chancellor Dr Bhola Thapa, Registrar Sharma and Dean of School of Engineering Manish Pokharel were among those present at the program.

Similarly, North Korean Ambassador and Deputy Chief of Mission Jonghyuk Kim had attended the program from the North Korean side.

The United Nations Security Council has imposed sanctions on North Korea. As a UN member state, Nepal has also banned trade with North Korea at the request of the United Nations since 22 December 2019.

Moreover, the Nepal government has shut down hospitals, restaurants and software companies being operated by North Korean nationals.

In the past year or so, the trend of Rohingya and Afghan migrants coming to Nepal through the open border with India has accelerated. This is a delicate humanitarian issue but it is also proving to be a headache for the country’s security agencies who fear unchecked immigration could imperil national security. Moreover, foreign nationals are entering the country not just from Myanmar and Afghanistan.  

Countries around the world are caught up in various kinds of conflicts. The likes of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon, Myanmar, Somalia and Iraq are in the midst of crippling civil wars, leaving thousands dead and countless more homeless and destitute. Desperate, many of them choose to leave their home country.

Even in Nepal, over 17,000 people were killed during the Maoist insurgency and hundreds of families were displaced. Youths started deserting villages; many Nepalis took refuge in other countries. 

Nepalis have found refuge in the US, Japan, Canada and some European countries. Many have submitted papers certifying the high risk of their return home, making them eligible for residency abroad. The same is the case with 716 nationals from 10 countries—Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Somalia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iraq, Congo and Togo—who have taken shelter in Nepal. They do not want to go back to their own country but nor can they legally stay in Nepal. Even though the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) lists them as refugees, Nepali laws do not recognize them.

Nepal has instead been treating them as illegal migrants. The country does not recognize refugees from anywhere bar Tibet and Bhutan. Many of these migrants don’t have any papers linking them to their home countries, including their passports. All they have are identification documents issued by the UNHCR, making them liable to get some help from the global body. 

Yet even the UNHCR has cut down on the help it was extending to them, with the excuse that the UN headquarters has significantly cut funding following the Covid-19 pandemic and that the bulk of the sum allocated for refugees has had to be diverted in dealing with the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Many of the migrants struggle for two meals a day and yet they opt to stay put in Nepal.

It is relatively easier for people from Myanmar and Bangladesh to seek refuge in Nepal given the open Nepal-India border and the weak presence of the Armed Police Force in border areas. But why do folks from Somalia, Pakistan, Iraq and Congo come here, after long flights and multiple transits? Are human traffickers bringing them to Nepal with the promise of taking them to Europe and America?

No one has clear answers to these questions, neither the government nor the UNHCR.

Just about anyone can enter Nepal on a tourist visa. Our security arrangements at the Tribhuvan International Airport are lax. Due to our unclear immigration policy and connivance of the APF deputed at the border, the number of illegal migrants in Nepal continues to increase. When the Rohingya enter Nepal via India, the AFP does not stop them, and the same is true of Afghans. Police sources speak of many Afghans who have entered Nepal, destroyed their papers and applied for refuge with the UNHCR.

Many of them come to Nepal with dreams of making it to western countries yet not all of them are successful.

In one way, the migrants in Nepal have become stateless. The Rohingya are the most numerous of all migrants in Nepal, followed by Pakistanis (see the table alongside). They struggle on a day-to-day basis. Rohingya, Afghans, Pakistanis and Somalis are often seen protesting in front of the UNHCR Nepal office in Kathmandu, asking for more help to sustain their livelihood.   

After they felt that the UNHCR was ignoring them, the Rohingya started entering Nepali villages in search of jobs. Nepali contractors employed them in homebuilding in places like Biratnagar, Kavre and Gorkha. But even the contractors started swindling them when they learned of their illegal status. These foreign nationals are also under constant gaze of security agencies.

The Rohingya mostly live in a camp in Kathmandu’s Kapan while Pakistanis and Afghans are scattered across Chappal Karkhana and Bansbari. Likewise, Somali women mostly live around Lazimpat. A 40-year-old Somali woman said she was thrown out of her flat when she could not pay her rent during the recent Covid-10 lockdown. (Speaking to ApEx, she also confessed to destroying her documents so didn’t have to go back home.) All those listed with the UNHCR do menial jobs.  

UNHCR’s role

The UNHCR accepts applications from would-be refugees. It does thorough background checks and rejects applicants with criminal records. The organization issues refugees cards after six months of rigorous investigation. Though listing with the UN body comes with few perks, just being listed makes many feel more secure.

The UNHCR, in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), has also been resettling refugees in Nepal in western countries like Canada and Sweden. At the request of the two bodies, the Nepal government has been helping with their third-country resettlement.

But many accuse the UNHCR of negligence in looking after the refugees. It cannot even guarantee their basic needs. Many refugee children have been denied education. Even when they get enrolled in school, they cannot attend online classes as they don’t have computers or smartphones. One Rohingya refugee visited ApEx offices in Teenkune recently, requesting this correspondent to arrange a laptop for his daughter who wants to study online. “The UNHCR doesn’t help us in anyway. Please publish news highlighting our plight,” he requested.

All these incidents suggest that Nepal needs a clear-cut immigration and refugee policy. The current state of ambiguity might be convenient for many but it is not a sustainable—or safe—arrangement.  

Deviram Sharma, Former chief, National Investigation Department

A growing security threat

Illegal migration is now a global phenomenon. Geographically and economically big countries might not be burdened much by this problem. In fact, the likes of the US, Australia and France have been accepting many migrants. But for a country like Nepal with a small economy and high unemployment, the entry of migrants might pose a big national security challenge.

If the migrants cannot return to their own countries or be rehabilitated in third countries, there is a risk of them getting involved in illegal activities on Nepali soil. As the government’s oversight is poor, there is also a risk of them being used by certain criminal or terror groups. This is why the entry of foreigners into Nepal must be tightened. We must increase the presence of security forces along the Indian border. It is also important that the Nepal government works with the UNCHR in order to manage illegal migrants. As far as possible, the migrants should be returned to their own country.  

Again, Nepal’s economy is weak and unemployment is high. This is precisely why around 10 million Nepalis have ventured out in search of jobs. The government has been unable to give common Nepalis basic facilities like health, education and drinking water. In this condition, can the country afford refugees? In the past, those displaced from Myanmar and India’s Meghalaya had come and stayed here. Even at that time, the government had faced big challenges.

There could soon be a security crisis if Nepal doesn’t reconsider its immigration policies.

Indra Aryal, Human rights and refugee activist

Nepal obligated to act humanely

Nepal is not a signatory to the 1959 UN refugee convention. Nor does the country have domestic laws to regulate refugees. Nonetheless, Nepal gave formal recognition to the refugees from Tibet in 1951 and to the refugees from Bhutan in 1990, in line with the provisions of the same UN convention. But Nepal is yet to recognize the children of these refugees or the entrants into Nepal from these places at other times. The Home Ministry recently decided to recognize the children of resident Bhutanese as refugees but it remains mum in the case of Tibetan children.

When China took over Tibet in 1951, around 23,000 Tibetans had entered Nepal and when Bhutan expelled Nepali-speaking citizens, around 113,000 of them came to Nepal via India. If we add refugees from other countries, there are around 20,000 refugees in Nepal right now.

At different times, those who have felt unsafe in their own country have entered Nepal and the Immigration Department has detained and deported them. But human rights activists have also been successful in stopping many of these human rights violations by knocking on the doors of the Supreme Court. They have successfully freed many detained refugees and stopped their deportation. In these cases, the court has also issued directive orders.

Even though it is not a part of the UN refugee convention, Nepal has accepted the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), as well as the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984). These provisions have the status of Nepal’s laws, in line with Clause 9 of Nepal’s Treaty Act 1990.

Act 14 (1) of the Universal Declaration and Act 3 of the Convention Against Torture prohibit member countries from deporting those whose human rights are at risk. Also, in lieu of the provisions on self-respect, equality, freedom, legal rights, and rights against torture that are enshrined in Nepal’s constitution, Nepal is bound to give refuge or provide a safe passage to those who rights are threatened in their country.

Nepal treats the refugees in its midst strangely, whereby it allows them to come and yet does not allow them to live in peace.

A French national banned from entering Nepal after overstaying his visa has been found to have entered Nepal using a different passport three months after his deportation.

Fitte-Rey Herve Laurent first came to Nepal on 20 July 2019. The 49-year-old from Oursbelille in southern France then overstayed his visa for 525 days before going to the Department of Immigration to get it renewed.

Department officials arrested Laurent for overstaying and he was deported on 22 December 2020, with a ban on entry into Nepal for a year. Officials don't know what activities the French man was involved in during his stay in Nepal.

Laurent returned to Nepal on 15 March 2021, this time with a new passport. This time also, he did not get his visa renewed but overstayed for over three months. Again, no one knows what he was up to during the period.

On June 20, he visited the immigration department to get his visa renewed. "We arrested him (Laurent) immediately and are investigating his engagements in Nepal during the period he overstayed his visa," says investigating officer Baikuntha Regmi.

Officials immediately identified Laurent and registered a case against him at the Kathmandu District Court. This time the court banned him from entering Nepal for two years. Department officials believe Laurent is not back in France.

Laurent claims to be an expert in beekeeping and came to Nepal to work in agriculture, officials say. But then foreigners on tourist visas can't be involved in any business.

Although the Ministry of Home Affairs has formed a body to monitor the activities of foreigners in Nepal, its work hasn't been effective. Foreigners have time and again been found to have breached the terms of their visa by indulging in various illegal activities.

That a banned person could enter Nepal with a different passport has also raised questions about the screening system used at the Tribhuvan International Airport. There might be others who are using the loophole in the system to come to Nepal even if they are banned from doing so, officials argue.

Medical equipment purchased by Nepal to fight Covid-19 pandemic has been stalled in the Chinese port city of Guangzhou for over three weeks due to China’s stringent clearing measures.

Starting April 10, China adopted a procedure of giving export clearance certificate to health-related items only after individually labeling each item. This has delayed exports, stalling Nepal's 48 tons of crucial medical material to fight the corona pandemic.

The Nepal Army had made the purchase following a cabinet decision on a government-to-government (G2G) purchase of the medical material.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Army Attaché at the Nepali Embassy in Beijing, and the Chief of Army Staff Purna Chandra Thapa have separately written to Chinese authorities to grant the medical goods customs clearance as soon as possible. The Chinese side has not responded.

The Nepal Army had on April 29 purchased 342 tons of medical material from China Sino Firm International Corporation. Of this, 30 tons have left for Nepal via road and is expected to arrive in Kathmandu in around a week. The present delay is over air transport of another 48 tons, and the remaining materials are to be transported to Nepal on a phase-wise basis.

“We have a Nepal Airlines aircraft at the ready to bring in the material as soon as the Chinese side gives us its clearance,” says Army Spokesperson Bigyan Dev Pandey.

On part of the army, it has completed all necessary import procedures, according to Pandey. There is no other legitimate reason for the delay, Pandey adds.

The Nepal Army has already made an advance payment of US $18.44 million to the Chinese company against the purchase. Nepal’s Flax Freight Logistics is assigned for its import.

Earlier, the government of Nepal had signed a medical equipment import agreement with the notorious Omni Group. The agreement was later nullified after the group was found to be grossly inflating the costs of imports. The task was entrusted to the Nepal Army by a March 29 cabinet decision.

The army had immediately sprung into action and written to the governments of China, India, South Korea, Israel, and Singapore for the G2G purchase. It had then chosen China and India for the supply of medical equipment and medicines.

Five people were injured in a clash between Chinese nationals and police personnel outside the Nepali central secretariat of Singhadurbar in Kathmandu on Friday, May 8. The Chinese nationals had gathered at the site with ‘We want to go back home’ placards. In the ensuing scuffle, five people—four Chinese nationals and a policeman, DSP Hari Bahadur Basnet—were injured.

The protestors, who numbered around 20, had earlier protested near the Nepal Tourism Board, asking Nepal government to take the initiative to send them back to China. The NTB had then asked the Chinese Embassy what to do about the protestors. The embassy answered that the protestors would be repatriated when Beijing gave its green signal, says an NTB source.

It is unclear why China has not taken the initiative to repatriate this lot when it has already taken back thousands of other Chinese nationals from Nepal during the Covid-19 crisis. Just on May 7, China had flown over 300 of its nationals back to their homeland.   

There has always been a kind of curious association between Nepali communists and members of the Workers Party of Korea, North Korea’s ‘eternal’ ruling party. While Nepali com­munists derided South Korea for coming under the influence of the capitalist Americans, the North Koreans were seen as bravely fighting the imperialists with the help of communist China. This fascination with the brand of North Korean communism endures.

The farther on the left a polit­ical party in Nepal, the greater its admiration for “Eternal Presi­dent of the Republic” Kim Il-Sung and his descendants. This is why Maoist leaders like Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Ram Bahadur Thapa were absolutely fascinated by how North Korea has managed to retain its sovereignty and model of govern­ment against all odds. But there is perhaps no communist outfit in Nepal that has not had a soft spot for the North Korean regime.

Only now has unrelenting Amer­ican pressure to enforce UN sanc­tions against Pyongyang distanced them from their North Korean com­rades. In the past few months, most North Korean businesses in Nepal have been shut down and the work­ers there repatriated. The UN in Nepal had long expressed worry that the North Korean business­es here were sponsoring Pyong­yang’s nuclear weapons develop­ment program. The communist government in Kathmandu ignored their concern. Then the Americans started getting serious. As their pressure mounted, the govern­ment had no option but to crack down on North Korean activities on Nepali soil.

But the trillion Won question is: Is this a temporary lull in North Korean activities in Nepal, only for show, or is the government here determined to keep them out for good this time around?

Ditching commie bonhomie, government cracks down on North Korean investments

All businesses with North Korean investment are being closed down. The government had issued an ultimatum for North Koreans to return home by December 20. The North Koreans had investments in two IT companies, some restaurants, and a hospital in Nepal

Nepal government is finally closing down all businesses in Nepal with North Korean investments. The United Nations, often in concert with the American Embassy in Kathmandu, had been exerting constant pressure on Nepal to enforce its sanctions on North Korea. The latest government move is the culmination of this pressure.

The North Korean workers have now started returning home. In fact, most of them have already left Nepal. For those still here, the government has issued a Decem­ber 20 deadline to shut down businesses and head home. The North Koreans had invest­ments in two IT companies, some restaurants, and a hospi­tal in Nepal.

Nepali citizens have bought the Ne-Koryo Hos­pital in Damauli in the dis­trict of Tanahun. The North Korean doctors and investors there have already left Damauli. Several restaurants in Kathman­du—Pyongyang Arirang, Minaj, Himalayan Soje, Botonggang— have closed down and many of their workers have gone back home as well.

Nine North Koreans associat­ed with Botonggang restaurant, located on the third floor of the Rising Mall in Durbar Marg, are yet to return home; the rest of them left Nepal on November 24.

The restaurant closed down on November 21. An immigration department team had inspected it at 9 pm the previous night and had asked the North Koreans to shut down the business. The two sides had had a brief argument, following which the North Kore­ans had agreed to comply with the immigration department’s instruc­tion. When the immigration team returned to Botonggang around noon the following day (Novem­ber 21) for a second inspection, the restaurant was still doing business. The immigration officials issued a final warning, and the North Kore­ans closed the restaurant down that very day.

Following the closure, North Kore­an ambassador to Nepal, Jo Young Men, paid a visit to the immigra­tion department and asked General Director Ishwor Raj Poudel not to revoke the visas of the North Korean workers and investors of Botong­gang. Poudel said he could not hon­or the request, citing UN sanctions on North Korea.

“All things North Koreans have been shut down,” Poudel told APEX. “No new visas have been issued to North Korean nationals. Nor will we issue them in the future.”

Commie comradeship crumbles

Earlier, the government and senior leaders of the ruling Nepal Communist Party were positive about North Korean investments in Nepal. PM KP Sharma Oli, NCP Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali, former Minister for industry, commerce and sup­plies Matrika Yadav, among many other NCP leaders, had been pro­viding political protection to North Korean businesses. They simply ignored the UN sanctions and the US pressure on the Nepal govern­ment to enforce them. The reason, apparently, was that North Korea is a communist state.

But in a surprising U-turn, the gov­ernment recently changed its stance on North Korean investments. Many found this government about-face hard to believe. It was later revealed that the government and top NCP leaders were forced to relent in the face of strong warnings from the UN and continuous pressure from the US Embassy in Kathmandu.

In fact, in six past months, the prime minister, the home minister and the foreign minister had even refused to see the North Korean ambassador. Senior leader Mad­hav Kumar Nepal, who had been to North Korea multiple times, also stopped providing support. Subse­quently, all North Korean businesses in Nepal were forced to close down.

American twist

In addition to the UN warnings, the US Embassy in Kathmandu seemed to have played an import­ant role in closing down North Korean businesses in Nepal. The UN office in Nepal did not appear to be actively involved in persuading the government to enforce sanctions on North Korea. Its action seemed to be limited to dispatching letters to the government. The role of the US Embassy in Nepal, on the other hand, appeared prominent. Embassy officials, both directly and indirectly, kept piling pressure on the government to put an end to North Korean investments in Nepal. To that end, the US Embassy received support from other embas­sies in Kathmandu, notably those of Japan, South Korea and some European countries.

Two weeks ago, the US Embassy had held an informal briefing on North Korean investments in Nepal, where it invited reporters who cover foreign affairs. The event discussed possible threats to Nepal’s interna­tional reputation as a result of the North Korean investments. Ameri­can officials said encouraging North Korean investments could tarnish Nepal’s image among the interna­tional community and weaken its presence in the UN. They also argued that North Korea’s sour relations with its neighbors could pose threats to Nepalis in the region, particularly 80,000 of them in Japan and 70,000 in South Korea.

Moreover, they contended, Nepali leaders had nothing to gain by main­taining cordial relations with North Korea, except some opportunities to visit the country. North Korea, on the other hand, has been trying to build a good global image by citing its amicable relations with Nepal.

Ties with Kathmandu have helped Pyongyang to exploit Nepal’s resources and invest here. North Koreans remit part of the profits from such investments to their country, which, according to the UN, is spent on its nuclear-weapons program. The harsh UN sanctions on North Korea are motivated by the intent to denuclearize the country. After long resisting outside pressure to crack down on North Koreans, Nepal government finally seems to be playing ball.