The Centre for Social Innovation and Foreign Policy (CESIF) organized a seminar on "Terrorism in South Asia and its Implications for Nepal" on June 2, 2025, at Kathmandu. The seminar discussed the persistent threat of terrorism in South Asia and its specific repercussions for Nepal, focusing on Nepal's vulnerabilities and the need for effective countermeasures.
Speaking in the program, Former Foreign Minister and senior leader of Nepali Congress N.P said that terrorism in South Asia poses a serious spillover risk for Nepal, warning that “vulnerabilities are no longer only at others’ homes—we are also open to them.”
The foreign minister highlighted systemic flaws in immigration management, referencing past lapses like the IC 814 incident, where Nepal failed to classify the perpetrators as terrorists or coordinate diplomatically with the country of origin of the terrorists. Parliamentarian Raj Kishore Yadav talked about ‘Nepal’s silence’ on the Pahelgam attack as a diplomatic misstep and lamented parliament’s continued failure to frame terrorism as a national issue. Nepal should have been more assertive and explicitly sided with the victim side, he said.
Shankar Das Bairagi, former national security advisor and foreign secretary emphasized Nepal’s normative commitments to international conventions but admitted that the implementation gap “depreciates our credibility.” He identified immigration, open border and intelligence as critical vulnerabilities and called for institutional reforms to enhance data sharing and deterrence capabilities. Former Ambassador Dinesh Bhattarai traced the ideological roots of South Asian terrorism to the differences in religion, and statistically noted, Hindus are the clear target.
Binoj Basnyat, a strategic affairs analyst spoke about shifting nature of warfare in South Asia, shaped by technology, proxy conflicts, and big power rivalries, noting that Nepal’s counterterrorism efforts currently rely heavily on soft diplomacy but lack proactive mechanisms. “We must revisit the way our security is maintained,” he said, emphasizing that Nepal’s experience with past insurgencies does not adequately prepare it for emerging transnational threats.
Former foreign secretary Madhu Raman Acharya strongly urged Nepal to take a principled stance on regional terrorism, particularly in cases like the Pahelgam attack, stating that “Nepal should have clearly sided with India” and used such incidents as diplomatic openings to build trust with India.
