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‘Pakistan's Lashkar, Jaish pose threat to India, Nepal must not become transit for terror'
Amid the brewing tensions between India and Pakistan, Nepalese officials warned that terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) pose serious risks to India and can use Nepal as a transit route. The warning came from Sunil Bahadur Thapa, Advisor to the President of Nepal.
Thapa made the warning while speaking at a high-level seminar organised by the Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement (NIICE) in Kathmandu on July 9. According to the information obtained by CNNNews18, the event focused on addressing terrorism threats in wider South Asia.
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The event featured a host of participants, regional experts and policy makers who raised concerns over growing instances of terrorist attacks across South Asia.
Nepal faces the spillover effect.
At the seminar, several speakers noted how terror attacks in India often have spillover effects on Nepal. They noted that terrorist incidents undermine regional peace and stability in both India and Nepal. The experts emphasised that Pakistan's support for terrorism poses a major hurdle to the effectiveness of SAARC and broader regional integration.
At the seminar, Nepalese officials called for counter-terrorism cooperation, including stricter action against money laundering, enhanced intelligence sharing, and joint patrolling of borders with India. It also urged regional actors to avoid applying double standards while tackling terrorism. According to CNNNews18, several experts cited the success of Operation Sindoor, calling it an effective response to cross-border threats.
Why Nepal should be concerned
It is pertinent to note that India and Nepal share a 1,751 km-long open border, which operates with minimal security checks. The porous borders make it easier for terrorists to infiltrate into the Indian territories. The terrorists often use forged Nepalese documents to conceal their identities.
Over the years, several operatives from Pakistan-based outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed have been arrested while attempting to enter India through Nepal. One of the tragic examples is the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC-814.
The aircraft bound to Delhi from Kathmandu was hijacked after the terrorists boarded with weapons, exposing serious lapses in security at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport.
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