Pakistan-based terror outfits could use Nepal to launch attacks on India: Nepalese official
NEW DELHI: In a blunt warning that has confirmed the worst fears of Indian security establishment, a senior Nepalese govt advisor has cautioned that Pakistan-based terrorist organisations were likely to exploit Nepal's geography to launch attacks on India.
During a seminar on challenges to regional peace and security in South Asia in Kathmandu, Sunil Bahadur Thapa, principal political advisor to the president of Nepal and former minister of industry, said Pakistan-based UN-designated terrorist groups like
Lashkar-e-Taiba
(LeT) and Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) posed risks to India and could potentially use Nepal as a transit point for their nefarious objectives.
The vulnerability of Nepal to terrorism was highlighted through specific incidents, such as hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 from Kathmandu.
Pakistani terrorist groups have been known to utilise Nepal as a transit route to infiltrate into India. Notable cases include the arrest of Abdul Karim Tunda, a top LeT operative involved in over 40 bombings in India, who was held on the India-Nepal border in 2013. The case of Mirza Dilshad Beg, an assassinated Indian-Nepali parliamentarian who had links with Dawood Ibrahim's D-company and ISI, is another case in point.
Yasin Bhatkal, co-founder of Indian Mujahideen, was apprehended by Nepal police in 2013 and handed over to Indian authorities. In April 2024, Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) had arrested two Pakistani nationals - Mohammed Altaf Bhat and Sayyed Gajanfar - along with their aide Nasir Ali, near the Nepal border.
A Nepalese citizen was among those who were targeted on the basis of their Hindu faith by jihadis in Pahalgam in April this year.
The seminar, organised by Nepal Institute for International Cooperation & Engagement, brought together experts, policymakers and former officials to discuss the threat of terrorism in the region. Speakers emphasised that terrorism in the region has far-reaching consequences, including economic losses, and hindered regional integration and stressed the need for global unity and cooperation to combat terrorism, citing the importance of intelligence sharing and joint border patrolling between India and Nepal.
Speakers at the seminar included Thapa; Minendra Rijal, former defence minister of Nepal; Chanda Chaudhary, member of Parliament; Shisir Khanal, former minister; Dinesh Bhattarai, former diplomat; N P Saud, former minister of foreign affairs; Purna Silwal, former major general of the Nepal army; and Madhu Raman Acharya, former foreign secretary of Nepal.
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