Will President Donald Trump give his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping a gift? While Trump prizes unpredictability, Xi aims to position China as a force for global stability. Thus, there is a widespread assumption that China will rush to fill the vacuum left by an increasingly nationalist and isolationist United States.
The Chinese leadership has no interest in filling America’s shoes. Attempting to do so could cost China dearly just when it is undertaking a broader economic reorientation at home. The world may be tired of US interventionism – and, now, of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/trump-s-first-month">Trumpian aggression</a> – but that does not mean it is ready to welcome an abstemious superpower.&nbsp;
China has studiously avoided becoming involved in major crises beyond its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/trans-himalayan-handshake">immediate neighbourhood</a>. Though it has proposed global initiatives on ‘development’, ‘security’, and ‘civilisation’, and articulated a vision of multipolarity in which all countries are treated equally, its efforts to realise these goals have not gone beyond economic statecraft.
While foreign commentators debate what <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-is-xi-jinping-s-big-surprise">China’s vision </a>entails – with some describing it as a potentially benevolent hegemon, and others as a malevolent one – Chinese authorities and intellectuals are more immediately concerned with weathering the storm that Trump has unleashed.
Viewed from outside, China’s core <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/staying-neutral-in-a-us-china-confrontation-8qni2ij1">national interests</a> seems straightforward: to replace the US as global leader. But pursuing that role may contradict other core interests, such as maintaining regime legitimacy and security, orchestrating a continuous rise in living standards, and reunifying Taiwan with the mainland.&nbsp;
These goals might best be served by maintaining a cold peace with the US, rather than embracing conflict with it.
Having watched the US, China knows all too well that being a <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4815">global superpower </a>would inevitably draw it into regional conflagrations that it would prefer to avoid. But China also knows that it has benefited massively from the relatively stable world economy that the US and its allies helped bring about.
China needs to retain enormous amounts of resources and manpower domestically to tackle its biggest challenges. Chinese leaders must <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-bubble-economy">manage an economy</a> that is no longer driven primarily by property development and exports, while preparing for the possibility that one of its largest trading partners could descend into total isolation.
Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs and escalatory duties in response to Chinese countermeasures were a wake-up call. Whatever happens in the trade war, China urgently needs to rebalance its economy by stimulating greater domestic demand.
While Chinese leaders have long acknowledged the need for such a rebalancing, they have been slow to follow through with the necessary policies. Public messaging notwithstanding, they have continued to prioritise industrial output over living standards, and capital investment over consumer spending. But the prospect of losing one of its biggest export markets should change this calculation.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/turning-point-in-us-india-relations">Turning point in US-India relations</a>, Shashi Tharoor
Similarly, China has an interest in building resilient supply chains for critical technologies in order to circumvent US chokepoints. A significant share of national resources has already been redirected toward promoting domestic innovation.&nbsp;
With the Sino-American rivalry intensifying over the past decade, Chinese leaders have come to regard domestic innovation as a strategic necessity.
Beyond boosting domestic innovation, China is eager to seize opportunities to set the global governance agenda for emerging technologies.&nbsp;
Its recent successes in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-needs-to-be-more-intelligent-about-ai">AI</a> – most notably <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship">DeepSeek</a>’s release of low-cost models that rival those from top US developers – have created a strong impetus for China to amplify its voice. China’s message – that a handful of rich countries should not be able to monopolise the technologies that will determine everyone’s economic future – undoubtedly resonates with many around the world.
During the post-Liberation Day staring contest with the US, China convened an impromptu gathering of the all-powerful Politburo and Chinese ambassadors stationed abroad. The purpose was to assess China’s relations with its neighbours, and the stature of those in attendance spoke to the sense of crisis that had swept through the country’s top leadership.&nbsp;
More to the point, the meeting confirmed that China’s strategic orientation remains focused on its own region – not the global context.
Beijing remains fully committed to maintaining strong ties with the Kremlin, viewing Russo-Chinese alignment as a geographical and strategic necessity. The two countries’ 4,209km land border gives China more than enough reason to work with Russia.&nbsp;
China’s ultimate focus is not Russia but its long-term rivalry with the US. An axis with President Vladimir Putin’s regime might well offer a workable (if imperfect) solution to the containment strategy that America has been pursuing against China.
Likewise, China has been de-escalating tensions with India, another large, nuclear-armed neighbour. Both know that the structural and historical strains on their relationship – characterised by an obvious power imbalance and mutual mistrust – will not be easily eliminated. But both also know that predictable, stable ties will yield big benefits over time, especially in a new multipolar order.
PAX SINICA
Beyond managing relations with its immediate neighbours, China has sought to mobilise the Global South behind reforms to multilateral institutions.&nbsp;
When Chinese leaders and diplomats speak of ushering in an ‘orderly multipolarity’, they mean an international order in which the non-Western world has much more clout. Hence, China is a strong advocate of the recent BRICS expansion, and of proposals to redistribute voting shares within Western-dominated international financial institutions.
China has also sought to shape the agenda at United Nations-affiliated institutions where the US historically has had less influence, such as at UN Trade and Development and the South Centre. It can assume a limited leadership role without directly confronting the US and the rest of the G7.&nbsp;
China does have a foreign-policy interest in subtly countering US influence in the developing world, which is why it builds large-scale infrastructure and addresses long-ignored development needs there without making any demands about democracy, human rights, and accountability.&nbsp;
Instead of offering security guarantees, China offers roads and bridges. In exchange, it can secure access to critical raw materials and open new markets for its state-owned enterprises and private companies at a time when the US and Europe are closing their doors.
China did broker a modest rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and its Global Security Initiative <a href="https://www.iiss.org/research-paper/2024/10/the-global-security-initiative-chinas-international-policing-activities/" target="_blank">aims to</a> foster international cooperation in counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, biosecurity, and emerging technologies.
But in the case of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/how-to-agree-an-armistice-in-ukraine?%2F=">Russia-Ukraine </a>and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/mortality-in-the-gaza-israel-war"> Israel-Hamas</a> wars, it has avoided taking direct responsibility, let alone providing any security guarantees. Of course, China’s self-proclaimed neutrality on the war in Ukraine has not gone unchallenged.&nbsp;
In Gaza, China has criticised the US for supporting Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s agenda of continuing the war. But unlike Iran – which China relies on for oil – these other flashpoints have been kept at arm’s length.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/world-wars">World wars</a>
China would face three big challenges in pursuing even partial or limited global leadership. First, given America’s accelerated withdrawal from international affairs, China might struggle to sustain its commercial engagement with many parts of the world. After all, the US wants to impose drastic costs on those who do business with China, and it may well get its way.
Second, China cannot avoid engagement in dangerous security situations forever. Sooner or later, it will have to develop a truly global foreign policy. In fact, simply putting its own Global Security Initiative into practice would require it to do much more heavy lifting, not only in setting the agenda but also in terms of deploying security personnel and resources. America may be retreating, but that does not mean it will sit idly by and watch China try to increase its own influence.
Third, China still needs to orchestrate a domestic economic rebalancing – a process that will have enormous global consequences. Shifting from export-led growth to greater domestic consumption will take years, and the push to rebalance may run up against China’s ambition to remain a global manufacturing powerhouse.&nbsp;
The latter objective is already causing tensions with Europe and some developing countries whose domestic manufacturers are struggling to compete with Chinese national champions (such as the electric-vehicle maker BYD).
Even as its economy continues to grow, China will remain a largely self-centered and reluctant superpower. Unlike the US, its domestic political economy calls for a more restrained foreign policy, focused primarily on its immediate neighbours and commercial opportunities in the Global South.
As the world grapples with the decline of US power and the shift toward multipolarity, China will increasingly become the centre of gravity in the global economy. The rivalry between a political and military superpower and an economic one will be dangerous for everyone. Both must tread carefully to prevent economic warfare from escalating into a conflict that all would regret.
&nbsp;©Project Syndicate&nbsp;
Yu Jie is a senior research fellow on China in the Asia-Pacific Program at Chatham House.

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Opinion

What China wants

India’s relationship with the United States has long been a careful balancing act between shared democratic values and sometimes diverging national interests. But recent diplomatic tremors have unsettled India, prompting it to question whether the partnership has reached a turning point.&nbsp;
In what Indian officials view as an unsettling display of geopolitical grandstanding, President Donald Trump has <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/india-pakistan-would-still-be-at-war-if-not-for-his-intervention-trump-repeats-ceasefire-claim/article69865245.ece" target="_blank">taken credit</a> for halting <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nukes-in-the-neighbourhood">recent hostilities between India and Pakistan </a>by threatening to disrupt trade ties.&nbsp;
India has bristled at Trump’s claims, not only because it is fiercely protective of its sovereignty, but also because they lack merit. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar have noted, Trump <a href="https://youtu.be/XNv61DN7foQ?si=GUP5aymVf5lLFS8B" target="_blank">did not even call them</a> during the conflict in May.&nbsp;
Bilateral trade was <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ceasefire-had-no-linkage-with-us-trade-jaishankar-in-parliament/article69866620.ece#goog_rewarded" target="_blank">not mentioned</a> by any US official while the fighting was underway. Trump may well have pressed Pakistan to end <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/world-wars">the violence</a>, but India did not need persuading. As a status-quo power focused on its own economic development, the last thing India wanted was a protracted conflict.&nbsp;
It was always clear that ‘Operation Sindoor’ – which featured strikes on nine known terrorist basecamps and other facilities in Pakistani territory – was retribution against the terrorists who had targeted Indian tourists, not the opening salvo in a war against Pakistan.
When Pakistan retaliated with indiscriminate attacks, India initiated another decisive but carefully calibrated strike – this time, on 11 Pakistani air bases. It was this manoeuver – possibly coupled with US pressure on Pakistan’s government – that prompted Pakistan to seek a cessation of hostilities. Trump hardly deserves credit for this outcome, and yet, true to form, he has sought to claim it.&nbsp;
But India will not tolerate the implication that it succumbed to Trumpian threats or blandishments. This is not Trump’s only action that is giving India pause.&nbsp;
In June, he hosted Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir – whom India’s government and opposition parties alike regard as a hardline Islamist ideologue – at a White House lunch. Pakistan’s civilian leadership was not at the table.
Trump’s unpredictability vis-à-vis China is similarly troubling. Whereas he took a reliably hardline approach to the country during his first presidency, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/trump-s-first-month">Trump 2.0</a> blows hot and cold. One minute, he is imposing extreme tariffs against China, the next, he is <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-china-hold-new-talks-tariff-truce-easing-path-trump-xi-meeting-2025-07-28/" target="_blank">seeking</a> to negotiate a trade truce and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-says-he-is-not-seeking-summit-with-xi-may-visit-china-2025-07-29/" target="_blank">saying</a> that he might visit Beijing at Chinese President Xi Jinping’s invitation.
Where India fits into these calculations – if it factors into them at all – is a mystery. During Trump’s first term – as well as during <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/columnist/joseph-biden-jr" target="_blank">Joe Biden</a>’s presidency – the US regarded India as a vital partner in the Indo-Pacific and a democratic bulwark against China.&nbsp;
While India upheld its foreign-policy doctrine of strategic autonomy and avoided committing to any confrontation with China, it welcomed US engagement in the region, and supported the revitalization of the Quad, which includes Australia, Japan, and the US, in 2017.&nbsp;
After all, India has its own quarrels<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/chindia"> with China</a>, which has ramped up its encroachments on their disputed frontier in recent years and lent critical support to Pakistan.
Now, China is directly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/india-has-arrived">undermining India</a>’s industrial ecosystem, by restricting the flow of engineers to the country and barring Indian factories’ access to high-end Chinese machinery. The impact on sectors like electronics and manufacturing is already visible.&nbsp;
China’s influence across <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/south-asia-2040-qxr16oup">South Asia </a>is also growing, extending from Bhutan and Nepal to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Indian officials and businesses see China as a threat. But it is difficult to know where the US stands, especially after Trump opted not to rebuke China publicly for offering intelligence assistance to Pakistan, including real-time satellite data that <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/external-affairs-defence-security/news/china-provided-pakistan-with-satellite-support-says-indian-defence-group-125051900505_1.html" target="_blank">reportedly facilitated</a> Pakistani strikes on Indian military targets during the recent conflict.&nbsp;
When it comes to trade, moreover, Trump has often been tougher on partners than adversaries. This week he increased tariffs to 50% on Indian goods for its energy and military equipment imports from Russia.
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-great-game-2nd-half">Trump’s capriciousness </a>has heightened India’s strategic anxieties. The US has proved to be an unreliable partner before, like during the 1999 Kargil conflict when it denied India access to vital GPS data.&nbsp;
Now, Indian decision-makers are split: Should India decouple from China, trusting the US to have its back, or pragmatically engage with it, for fear that the US will do the same? This raises an even more fundamental question: What is the value of a partnership that is subject to the whims of an outsize ego?
India will not panic, but it might pivot. Given its lack of treaty obligations, it has greater leeway to act independently than formal US allies like Japan or South Korea. It might use this manoeuvering room to adjust its foreign-policy orientation. Jaishankar’s July visit to Beijing pointed to a desire to broaden channels of communication with China.&nbsp;
While India is not downgrading its ties with the US, it is emphasising self-reliance. This may lead to a more transactional bilateral relationship, shaped less by ideals than interests.
Indian foreign policy will remain rooted in deterrence, decisiveness, and non-tolerance of terror, outlined in Modi’s newly articulated <a href="https://garhwalpost.in/the-modi-doctrine-indias-new-normal-in-a-fractured-world-order/" target="_blank">strategic doctrine</a>. As for the US, India will continue to walk the same tightrope, constantly aware that it may be fraying at one end.
©Project Syndicate 
 
 Shashi Tharoor is a former Indian Minister of State for External Affairs and is an MP for the Indian National Congress and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs. He is the author, most recently, of <a href="https://www.alephbookcompany.com/book/ambedkar-a-life/" target="_blank">Ambedkar: A Life</a> (Aleph Book Company, 2022).

Turning point in US-India relations

As the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) looms, Nepal faces a major challenge in monitoring its progress. With 446 indicators revised in June 2023, the list of SDGs in federal Nepal shoots up sevenfold at the provincial level and <a href="https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/485591576101383264/pdf/Nepal-Development-Update-Envisioning-a-Future-Data-Ecosystem-in-Federal-Nepal.pdf">a hundredfold</a> when all 753 local bodies are taken into account. This massive reporting burden, along with overlapping data collection authorities, can erode the quality of data (Figure 1).  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250804140844_d0ed347ce29b627497fe075066d0c9cd0e9f9d5bb3658c7dcf485d22d4e1898d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250804140844_d0ed347ce29b627497fe075066d0c9cd0e9f9d5bb3658c7dcf485d22d4e1898d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1593" height="729" loading="lazy" alt="Data and delivery figure 1"> <figcaption>Figure 1: Mapping of authorities. Source: The World Bank (2019) – The figure depicts the mapping from unbundling report. After 2022, the statistical system is now under leadership of NSO.</figcaption> </figure>  Furthermore, <a href="https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/485591576101383264/pdf/Nepal-Development-Update-Envisioning-a-Future-Data-Ecosystem-in-Federal-Nepal.pdf">the World Bank report</a> on envisioning a future data ecosystem in federal Nepal states that ‘The data governance should be institutionalized in such a way that data coming from different sources would ‘complement’ rather than ‘compete’ with each other and abide the ‘cooperation’ ‘coexisting’ and ‘coordination’ principle enshrined in the Constitution of Nepal’. However, the challenge is to ensure reporting efficiency and quality, especially as the statistical regulation of 2080 B.S. allows independent data collection, but the localisation of SDG indicators creates a huge administrative ordeal. As such, it is important to map the overlapping SDGs indicators, and explore the scope for minimising redundancies by reducing the number of repeating indicators and duplication of efforts, as well as identifying complementing indicators.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250804140844_539aa390889c971940a4cd28d6d9709485a4f37a06e3fa022fa4b0e14a5a9110.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250804140844_539aa390889c971940a4cd28d6d9709485a4f37a06e3fa022fa4b0e14a5a9110" data-rendition-name="original" width="1149" height="824" loading="lazy" alt="Data and delivery figure 2"> <figcaption>Figure 2: 75% text or conceptual overlap. Source: Author’s calculation.</figcaption> </figure>  There are 15 indicators with a 75-100% text match or conceptual overlap across different goals (Figure 2). For instance, SDG 4, Indicator 1.4.3 “Households within 30 minutes travel time to health facility (% of total)” is conceptually identical to SDG 3, Indicator 3.8.9 “i. Percent of households within 30 minutes travel time to health facility”. In another example of duplication, “Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population,” is reported in both SDG 13 Indicator 13.1.1 and SDG 11 Indicator 11.5.1. The count of “local levels that adopted disaster risk reduction strategies,” appears in both SDG 11 Indicator 11.b.2 and SDG 13 Indicator 13.1.3. The problem is not just duplication, but also conceptual overlaps: 55 indicators have more than 35% text similarity (Figure 3). For example, SDG 5, Indicator 5.5.3 “Women in civil service decision-making positions (% of total employees)” and SDG 16, Indicator 16.7.3 “Proportions of decision-making positions held by women in public institutions” are complementary. Technically, it should be possible to calculate indicator 16.7.3 if data is available in SDG 5.5.3, eliminating the need for separate reporting.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250804140844_070dc2c1f2f07b1b80938274bd2f440ccb60b5fc723509d87be388ce7d4e8cf5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250804140844_070dc2c1f2f07b1b80938274bd2f440ccb60b5fc723509d87be388ce7d4e8cf5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1145" height="836" loading="lazy" alt="Data and delivery figure 3"> <figcaption>Figure 3: 35 to ~100% text match or overlap. Source: Author’s calculation.</figcaption> </figure>  Furthermore, inherent interlinkages between indicators, such as SDG 1’s “Households having access to market center within 30 min walk (% of total)” and SDG 8’s “Access to Cooperatives (% of households within 30 min walk),” should complement each other, highlighting opportunities for data integration. Cooperatives operate within the proximity of the market, the existence of data in cooperatives and data gaps in access to the market or larger variation in statistics should flag the possible disconnect. Meanwhile, there are more than three Goal Areas (SDG 11, 16 and 17) where the data gap is 50% or higher. In contrast, Health (SDG 3) and Education (SDG 4) have the highest number of indicators and the lowest data gaps, primarily due to well-established administrative systems like the Health Management Information System (HMIS) and the Education Management Information System (EMIS). These systems contribute approximately 38% of all data, with an overall data gap of 35%. Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education have the highest proportion of budget followed by Ministry of Infrastructure. The granularity of data is high in the SDGs 2, 3 and 4. These are the goal areas where MIS contributes the most. Overall, 18% of data is disaggregated at the local level, and approximately 28% at the provincial level (Figure 5).&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250804140844_bca4fc150516a469c8d6b13a19c8559f1bb1daafe4d9fa5e3796b64aa4ed359a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250804140844_bca4fc150516a469c8d6b13a19c8559f1bb1daafe4d9fa5e3796b64aa4ed359a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1106" height="847" loading="lazy" alt="Data and delivery figure 5"> <figcaption>Figure 5: Disaggregation and data gap. Source: Author’s calculation.</figcaption> </figure>  Interestingly, indicators with matching text or conceptual overlaps often have no apparent data gaps and are highly disaggregated. This suggests that these indicators are often derived from administrative systems, and thus, a key opportunity exists to minimise redundancies by integrating these siloed systems (Figure 6).  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250804140844_67f8345023f322ab8db4c6e320745c6e4b1f8b8155691087b20bb3bbe79d504f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250804140844_67f8345023f322ab8db4c6e320745c6e4b1f8b8155691087b20bb3bbe79d504f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="844" loading="lazy" alt="Data and delivery figure 6"> <figcaption>Figure 6: Matching and data sources. Source: Author’s calculation.</figcaption> </figure>  However, it is easier said than done. Institutionalising interoperability across different administrative systems requires harmonised coding and coordinated data collection timelines. This task is made more difficult by the need for a sustained vision to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/covid-crisis-can-spur-digitisation">push for digitisation</a> with strong financial support, and a dedicated effort to identify indicators that do not share the same spelling or coding conventions. While the revised SDG indicators now have unique identifiers, these must be consistently mapped across thematic areas and with existing administrative systems and ‘<a href="https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/485591576101383264/pdf/Nepal-Development-Update-Envisioning-a-Future-Data-Ecosystem-in-Federal-Nepal.pdf">coding of newly established government units, including but not limited to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the Survey Department, and the High-Level Commission for Information and Technology (HLCIT) codes</a>’. A lack of standardisation is a major obstacle. For instance, of the 753 local governments, only about 500 use the same spelling convention. The Government of Nepal in 2022 graduated the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) to the National Statistics Office (NSO), making it a statistical arm to coordinate with federal units on the data collection, management and reporting process. The NSO is mandated to coordinate data collection and management in federal Nepal and to create a coordination committee for this purpose. As per the regulation, the data coming from administrative services feeds into the unified statistical system. However, a critical gap exists: the mandate does not include representatives from the Ministry of Information and Technology (MoIT), where the integrated data management centre is hosted. Mandate requires data to abide by the existing laws and practices in Nepal, and commensurate with the framework and definition laid out by the UN or its higher authorities. Furthermore, while the NSO's mandate calls for consistent frameworks and guidelines, it fails to mention the harmonisation of codes and identifiers—a basic requirement for a unified statistical system (section 2, sub-section 3 and sub-section 4). One crucial step the government can take is to create a metadata that includes an exhaustive list of all the spelling conventions and coding used in the administrative systems of Nepal. This list should be reviewed by technical experts and think tanks to identify redundancies and overlaps in the SDGs indicators. This would be a foundational move toward a more efficient and integrated data ecosystem. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashutosh-mani-dixit-92aa3a2a4/">Ashutosh Mani Dixit</a> co-authored the special focus section Envisioning a future data ecosystem in federal Nepal. He worked with the World Bank from 2018 to 2021, and the Government of Federal Nepal in SDGs agenda and localisation of the SDGs indicators. The coding used for matching the text and spelling in the analysis is uploaded on <a href="https://github.com/AMD2019/Python-for-Data-Science/blob/932a48e9a842254ed6ee69488d67b2a3d55856bc/SDGs_revised.ipynb">GitHub</a>. The data used in the analysis is available <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FPipYVtXU2kskA6QMPORvrhr9LZ_cMGz/view">here</a> for further discussion and feedback.

Data and delivery

I was asked to give a presentation at the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-present-and-future-of-news">Himal Media Mela</a> on 25 July on the ethical and productive use of AI in journalism. I am using the first of this new monthly Technocrat column in Nepali Times to say what I did not have time for at my session about real dangers, real potentials, and hard-won lessons about AI, journalism, and ethics.
I’m not a natural public speaker, and a member of the audience last week told me I sounded like I was chewing gum. True, I mumble, and often lose my train of thought. But one does not need to be a great orator to get the message across. You just need to care deeply and speak the truth.
Nepali Times readers will have seen the supplement in last week’s edition in both print and online that carried a year-by-year summary from 2000 to 2025. I am told the five-member newsroom staff took weeks to put it all together.
They did a great job, but I used ChatGPT’s plus feature Deep Research to crawl 25 years of archives to produce similar content in a few hours with workable links and all the right references.&nbsp;
True, the text needed some fine tuning, but if this sort of normally exhausting human work can save time and energy then AI can be an amazing asset. &nbsp;
But many AI enthusiasts are dumbing down by using image and video generators, and wasting their credits. This is causing AI fatigue among young people on digital networking sites.
Before using AI effectively, we must first understand its true cost. The glossy marketing of AI tools hides the dark side of the deep learning machine underneath, a system built on a foundation of our work, often taken without our knowledge or consent. And you thought, all those words and sentences were AI magic!
AI is a hungry beast voraciously devouring whatever you post. Every article, every photograph, every personal post, every comment you make is raw material for training the next generation of AI models. It does not matter if you gave permission. Nobody is asking.&nbsp;
AI does not need permission to train itself using my sentences from the digital version of this column.
This is not 'fair use'. It is exploitation on an industrial scale. The very soul of our work is being strip-mined to build a technology that profits from our labour without credit, compensation, or consent.
And then there is the danger from deep fake that has moved from a niche experiment to an everyday threat. It is easy if you know the tricks for anyone to clone a voice, fake a video, or create a false event so realistic it can fool even experts.&nbsp;
Content Scrapers
AI is not a neutral force. It is a tool for scammers, a weapon to deny crimes, erase real incidents, and destroy reputations overnight. Teenage girls have been blackmailed with fake videos. In India and Bangladesh, politicians have seen their words twisted to incite chaos.
The scariest outcome is not just the production of individual fakes, it is the erosion of all trust. When ‘anything can be faked’, who can prove if they are telling the truth? The greatest risk is not that people will believe fake content, but that they will stop believing any content, undermining our shared foundation of reality.&nbsp;
As journalists, we risk becoming unwitting amplifiers of these falsehoods if we are not equipped to detect and expose them. AI is a stereotyping machine that amplifies our worst biases.&nbsp;
Prompts on platforms are sexualised, gendered, or reinforce harmful ethnic stereotypes. Many women participate in this cycle, sometimes out of curiosity, unconsciously reproducing the very biases inherent in patriarchal societies.
The faces of children are now circulating in AI-generated images worldwide, stripped of context, consent, or protection. A simple search for ‘Nepali or Indian or White girl’ on an AI image site brings up content no parent would ever want to see.&nbsp;
This is not just a privacy issue, it is a violation of dignity and safety. We make it easy for ‘content scrapers’ by posting photos and videos of our children on Tiktok.&nbsp;
Faced with these realities, we cannot afford to be silent. Indifference is not an option, it is complicity. Fortunately, there is a quiet but growing resistance among artists, musicians, and photographers. But journalists, the very people who create the facts and narratives that train AI, have been too slow to join the fight. &nbsp;
Naresh Newar is a writer on strategic communications and Artificial Intelligence and content specialist.

Technocrat

Being intelligent about journalism

Nepali Times celebrated its 25th anniversary on 25 July, and this piqued my curiosity about how the paper covered migration in the early days. Things must have been so different back then. Or were they? If we look at restrictive emigration policies that disproportionately impact women, contributors have changed, protagonists have changed, but the message <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/two-decades-of-debate-on-female-migration" target="_blank">remains</a> more or less the same. Many aspects of what we write today about bans are no different from what was written back then, and it is timely to revisit this issue today on World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. Trafficking can only be addressed when people have access to safe and legal migration pathways, not with bans. In an article in 2000, the year this paper was born, correspondent Hemlata Rai wrote an article called ‘<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4816#.YDxjOFUzaUk" target="_blank">Misplaced Chivalry’</a> that criticised the ban on women migration. Back then, it was not a ban on just domestic work but on women migration altogether. Excerpt from the article: What the prohibition has done is make women more vulnerable to economic and sexual exploitation. Since the women now use illegal channels to reach their destinations, they remain invisible in official books and therefore unprotected by laws that ensure workers’ rights…. The government has simply not been able to put an end to this trafficking, and by its across-the-board ban on women workers going to the Gulf has only succeeded in pushing an employment channel underground. Twenty-five years later, I could just reuse this paragraph, and it would still be relevant, albeit the current ban is on domestic work that disproportionately impacts women and not all women migrants. In a 2003 <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4627" target="_blank">news piece</a>, there was a hopeful government announcement that the ban on women working in Gulf countries was lifted, provided a recruiter and embassy could guarantee safe working conditions, after ‘activists criticised the restriction as discriminatory’. In 2006, Dambar Shrestha <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12746" target="_blank">noted</a> that the remaining restriction on women migrating to the Gulf for domestic work would also likely be repealed after the introduction of the Foreign Employment Act in 2007:&nbsp; ‘There was a general consensus (among Government and advocates) that the ban should be repealed, as a way to monitor overseas employment, and ensure women have legal recourse if mistreated.’ Indeed, the ban was lifted but its aftermath. Mallika Aryal’s 2009 article ‘<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15584" target="_blank">The Invisible</a>’ and Rubeena Mahato’s ‘<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19120#.YDxpbVUzaUl" target="_blank">Womanpower</a>’ noted that women still struggled to migrate because of the bureaucratic challenges:&nbsp; ‘Despite being legally allowed to go abroad to work, government rules make it as difficult as possible for them to do so.’ (Mallika Aryal) or because of the perception of the ban, ‘After the Foreign Employment Act 2007 was passed, the ban has officially been lifted, and there are no restrictions on women migrant workers going abroad. But the perception of a ban remains, and this has led many women to continue using illegal routes.’ By the time people become aware that bans have been lifted or get a grasp of how to navigate the post-ban recruitment system, another iteration of the ban is introduced whether it is conditional (age-specific, country-specific) or blanket bans bringing us back to square 1. See the flipflopping I attempted to trace in a 2021 article, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/history-of-female-im-mobility-in-nepal?amp=1history" target="_blank">History of Female Im-mobility in Nepal</a>. Just like the ban is a reactionary policy, this article was a reaction to a bizarre proposal to require consent from a guardian and local government for women under the age of 40 travelling to the Gulf or Africa which fortunately got quashed. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025073014074_064a69c6ac6a432d6fabb6ca38989186ca6f730e59c20c0c0f182c5e0f6d9dc0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="2025073014074_064a69c6ac6a432d6fabb6ca38989186ca6f730e59c20c0c0f182c5e0f6d9dc0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1005" height="672" loading="lazy" alt="migration in Nepal"> </figure>  But <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/lift-the-ban-on-domestic-workers" target="_blank">bans</a> don’t work, have never worked, given irregular <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/ban-the-ban" target="_blank">options</a> via open borders and visit visas, as has been extensively covered in this paper since its first year. The latest <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/history-of-female-im-mobility-in-nepal?amp=1history" target="_blank">ban</a>, imposed in 2017 after a Parliamentary committee visited the Gulf and decided it was unsafe for domestic workers, regardless of gender.&nbsp; Any promise for change such as a 2020 Parliamentary trip after which the committee instructed the government to revisit the ban considering country-specific policies and several preconditions, which were still deemed restrictive, has stalled. A proposal around lifting the ban starting with a pilot agreement with the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/ban-on-female-migrant-workers-to-be-lifted" target="_blank">UAE</a> submitted by the Labour Ministry has also stalled. One would think that 25 years is a long enough time horizon for progress that would bring us to a point where we would look back and gasp at how bans were imposed to curb migration that disproportionately impacted women.&nbsp; What on earth was the Government thinking, we could have wondered? On the contrary, this is still our reality and we are in fact in the midst of a fresh, high profile <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/labour-mobility/revisiting-visit-visas" target="_blank">visit visa</a> scandal that has become a core public contention issue. The misuse of visit visas is inevitably linked to deployment bans and profit motives.&nbsp; These scandals cast doubt on the claim that the bans are really for ‘protection’ of women. To be sure, domestic work remains one of the most vulnerable sectors with women disproportionately affected. Excessive working hours, payment issues such as non-payment or underpayment, verbal, physical and even sexual abuse are prevalent. Countries including in the Middle East have increasingly adopted regulations protecting women but there are severe limits in both the protections they offer or their implementation. These abuses are very much present, prevalent and cannot be ignored. But Nepal has not taken the steps to proactively address these issues because the bans alone take centre focus despite their ineffectiveness. The restrictive policy has not been overhauled despite decades of progress since Hemlata Rai first reported on this subject in this paper in terms of better databases for recordkeeping, stronger international conventions, laws and standards governing this sector, better developed curricula on domestic work, stronger regulations for recruiters deploying domestic workers, social media that keeps domestic workers connected. There are developments from the last two decades that can be utilized to make the sector safer should there be a willingness to do so. Because the reality is, these opportunities are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/homes-away-from-home" target="_blank">life-changing</a> for many <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/every-day-is-closer-to-pay-day" target="_blank">migrants</a> and their families. If and when we get to celebrate the lifting of the ban, it will be just that: a celebration of the ban being lifted, which is not a lot to begin with. A low bar. Because it will only clear the way to begin real work to tangibly make this sector safe.&nbsp; What is needed past the ban will be a lot of work: stronger embassies, better recordkeeping, enforceable bilateral labour agreements, monitoring, pre-departure training and awareness campaigns. Perhaps that is another reason why there is such slow progress because imposing a ban does give the semblance of doing something in the name of protection without really doing much? Twenty-five years of reporting in Nepali Times on bans on women migrant workers has one lesson: they still don’t work -- just as the paper reported back in 2000.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025073014070_90a876eb706f8dca38e738c0f470f88d798d8ebe4be1893c9af5867fba3e0b24.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2025073014070_90a876eb706f8dca38e738c0f470f88d798d8ebe4be1893c9af5867fba3e0b24" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="720" loading="lazy" alt="World Day against Trafficking in Persons"> </figure>  In this spirit of lazy policymaking and the lackluster progress on addressing deployment bans, here are five endings from previous articles covered in the paper on this issue. Please choose as per your liking; ‘The government has simply not been able to put an end to this trafficking, and by its across-the-board ban on women workers going to the Gulf has only succeeded in pushing an employment channel underground.’ (Hemlata Rai, 2000) ‘How can the government be so apathetic towards this problem when women make such a significant contribution to the national economy?’ (Dewan Rai, 2009) ‘Unless the government is serious about enforcing the provisions of the Foreign Employment Act and creates a safety net for migrant workers, these statistics and the lives of countless Nepali women will only get worse.’ (Sushila Budhathoki and Mina Sharma, 2012) ‘The ban needs to be lifted, but this is also an opportune moment to address other less-explicit but enduring factors that are holding women back, both literally and figuratively.’ (Upasana Khadka, 2020) ‘Undocumented domestic workers are citizens too, and it is the duty of the state not to abandon them.’ (Ayushman Bhagat and Sunita Mainali, 2025) Upasana Khadka heads <a href="https://www.migration-lab.com/">Migration Lab</a>, a social enterprise aimed at making migration outcomes better for workers and their families. Labour Mobility is a regular column in Nepali Times.

Upasana Khadka

Nepal’s unchanging domestic worker saga

The dramatic story of Israel’s birth in 1948 following the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/holocaust-memorial-sara-atzmon,1986">Nazi Holocaust </a>captured the wonder and admiration of the world. Its founders claimed that Israel would be a light to the nations. But the Jewish state’s identity has now gone from being the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-loss-of-an-identity">victim of genocide</a> to perpetrator in less than two generations. Israel’s Likud government stands accused of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/crime-against-humanity-in-gaza">genocide in Gaza </a>by a UN Special Committee, the World Court’s admission that the accusation is plausible, and recently by 28 nations acting in concert to declare Israel in violation of International Humanitarian Law. What happened? Rather than face the truth of 75 years of injustice to Palestinians that led to the terrible slaughter and hostage-taking by Hamas in 2023, most Israelis support the daily overkill in Gaza, now nearly two years long. After <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/mortality-in-the-gaza-israel-war">more than 100,000 casualties</a> under constant bombing of the civilian population with no one shooting back, famine has begun. Israel as a society and government have performed exactly the opposite of what David Ben Gurion declared: The State of Israel will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace … Israel lost its soul by becoming racist, then racialist, with the doctrinaire view that Jews are by nature and divine right superior to other races. This has led to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-world-s-moral-failure-in-gaza">suppression of the Palestinians</a>, and, if given the opportunity, to their extermination, as is now evident in Gaza. Why under its decades-long military occupation of Palestine, have Arabs been killed, imprisoned, wounded, neighbourhoods bombed, houses destroyed, streets ploughed up, families imprisoned behind concrete walls, and an entire population denied the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/history-of-female-im-mobility-in-nepal">right to travel</a>?&nbsp; The Zionist’s answer to these questions may be that the Palestinians under decades of military rule are not actually citizens of Israel. That is a distinction without a difference, because the occupying authority has legal responsibility for the population under occupation, including the West Bank and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/saving-what-is-left-of-gaza">Gaza</a>. True, there are areas declared to be administered by the Palestinians alone, but no one pretends that the Palestinian territory is truly free and independent. The occupied territory and its people remain wards of the Israeli state. Even though the UN created Israel, its various governments have long denied any right of the UN to curtail its expansionist aims and war-making powers.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250730090744_f0e965da3702f8d2cea081e607d40a09249dceedf4e6fd725f9fd139c2132ecf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250730090744_f0e965da3702f8d2cea081e607d40a09249dceedf4e6fd725f9fd139c2132ecf" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="805" loading="lazy" alt="How Israel lost its soul"> </figure>  Jewish Holocaust survivor Raphael Lemkin coined the word ‘genocide’ and made it his lifelong task to see it implemented in international law. The Genocide Convention was ratified by the United Nations in 1948, but is being deliberately flaunted by Israel in Gaza. Genocide is a serious charge, but its terms in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/un-faults-nepal-s-war-crimes-bill">international law</a> are clear: no killing or setting up conditions for the destruction of a people group just because they are members of that group, no forced expulsion or transfers of that group, and no public advocacy to do so, which is a key provision already violated by Messrs Netanyahu, Trump, Galant, and others. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/guest-editorial/the-international-order-is-dying-in-gaza">The International Order Is Dying in Gaza</a>, Mohamed ElBaradei In January 2024 the International Court of Justice (ICJ), joined by an Israeli ad hoc Judge, Aharon Barak, voted to urge punishment of those advocating expulsion or transfer of the population of Gaza. The citizens of Israel bear collective responsibility for the actions of their government, but not as individuals unless they specifically vote for or advocate genocidal actions. Israeli opposition figures, of which there are very few, are courageous and deserve praise. What about the citizens of the United States where both Democrats and Republicans have long aided and abetted Israel’s violence toward those under its protection? Governments and citizens everywhere must join forces to prevent famine from claiming more children in Gaza.&nbsp; Citizens must raise our voices now or be forever classed with those who allowed and abetted today’s Genocide. (Inter Press Service) James E Jennings PhD is President of <a href="http://www.conscienceinternational.org/index.php" target="_blank">Conscience International</a>, and Leader of US Academics for Peace delegations to Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, and other countries. He taught Middle East History, Archaeology, and Religion at US universities. <h2>Bearing Witness</h2> The Associated Press, AFP, BBC News and Reuters this week issued this joint statement:&nbsp; We are desperately concerned for our journalists in Gaza, who are increasingly unable to feed themselves and their families. For many months, these independent journalists have been the world’s eyes and ears on the ground in Gaza. They are now facing the same dire circumstances as those they are covering. &nbsp;&nbsp; Journalists endure many deprivations and hardships in war zones. We are deeply alarmed that the threat of starvation is now one of them. It is essential that adequate food supplies reach the people of Gaza.

Guest Editorial

How Israel lost its soul

Every year, up to 15 people are killed by tigers in and around Nepal’s Chitwan National Park, famous for its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/is-wildlife-conservation-a-victim-of-its-own-success-in-nepal">conservation success story</a>.&nbsp; But this was not always the case — elders say there used to be many more tigers but fewer deaths. What changed? Long before <a href="https://chitwannationalpark.gov.np/index.php">Chitwan National Park</a> was established in 1972, the indigenous Tharu people and tigers coexisted, fostering a centuries-old relationship based on an understanding of each other’s behaviour. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-tarai-s-shrinking-forests">the Tarai </a>plains, especially Chitwan, gained fame for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-tarai-s-shrinking-forests">tiger hunting</a> and proved useful as Nepal’s rulers employed hunting diplomacy by inviting British royals to extravagant hunting parties. Hunting expeditions would descend from Kathmandu in winter months to avoid malarial summers. The Tharu supplied rice, vegetables, goats, and constructed access roads.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250729160752_c9998ffdaa27ff3c251556bd472945bf6e648fdb4016d3b152cbef86f321c7f7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250729160752_c9998ffdaa27ff3c251556bd472945bf6e648fdb4016d3b152cbef86f321c7f7" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1146" loading="lazy" alt="Tharu people"> <figcaption>A US-supported DDT spraying campaign against malaria in Chitwan in the 1950s that opened the valley to trans-migration of farmers from the hills. The Tharu people were partially immune to malaria. Photo: USOM RECORDS, US NATIONAL ARCHIVES, COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND</figcaption> </figure>  Rana rulers also relied upon Tharu mahout expertise in handling elephants, navigating the jungle, and tracking wildlife for hunting. The Ranas and their guests killed an astonishing number of tigers. During a hunting expedition in 1850, Rana Prime Minister Jung Bahadur Rana personally shot dead 31 tigers. In 1876, during two weeks, British King Albert Edward VII shot 23 tigers.&nbsp; In 1911 King George V killed four bears, eight one-horned rhinoceroses, and 39 tigers. Rana Prime Minister Juddha Shumsher is said to have killed 433 tigers from all across the Tarai between 1930 to 1940. At the time, 90% of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/chitwan-s-bote-people-in-a-changing-world">Chitwan’s population </a>were indigenous Tharu, Bote, Musahar, with the Kumal making up the rest. While people were worried about their crops and food sources, they were also mindful of tigers, rhinos, and other forms of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/human-animal-interface-in-nepal-wildlife-corridor?%2F">wildlife</a>.&nbsp; The Tharu trapped tiger prey such as wild boar and deer for their survival, also understood that predators like tigers sometimes hunted their buffalos, goats, and cows — especially when they grazed in or near the jungle. To Tharu, this seemed only fair. “In 1973, just before the establishment of the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/on-the-tri-junction-of-wildlife-conservation-conflict-and-co-existence"> Chitwan National Park</a>, my family owned between 200 and 300 cows, oxen, and buffaloes,” says Keval Chaudhary, 95. “Tigers killed four to five of my cattle each year, but we never hated tigers and never felt like killing them. It was coexistence — we shared the same land.”&nbsp; Shukhlal Chaudhary of Bachauli once told us there used to be significantly more tigers before malaria eradication in the 1950s, but that did not mean there was more conflict with humans. “We used to go into the forest every day, and were familiar with the routines of the animals that lived there,” he used to say. “The tigers rarely ventured into our village or killed anyone who lived there.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250729160756_e39f7bdb451f752b753b1d8fc4e590196afd5cd21e2456443557c2eafb6c5c82.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250729160756_e39f7bdb451f752b753b1d8fc4e590196afd5cd21e2456443557c2eafb6c5c82" data-rendition-name="original" width="1915" height="1443" loading="lazy" alt="Tigers in Nepal"> </figure>  In the days before the National Park, the tiger population in Chitwan was probably bigger. The Ranas had laws against hurting rhinos and tigers, but more importantly, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/unsung-heroes-of-nepal-s-tiger-recovery">the Tharu also cared for the animals </a>and the jungle. This respect for nature runs deep in our tradition. The Tharu worship through the Gurau spiritual healer and honour the forest deity known as Bandevi. Says Aasha Ram Mahato, an 85-year-old resident of Madi: “हमरा पुजा करइ खुनिय जम्मा देवी देउता जससनेकी सोमेसोरबाणि, कल्की माइ, बिक्रम बाबा सब थारु देवी देउता क नाउ लेके हमरा सन्सारी बर्ना कर्साहु इय जेठवा नत एसार्ह महिनावमा हमरा इअ बाली बिर्ही बचावके, बनवका चिजुवा बिजुवा बचावके कहके हमरा बरसमा ३ चोटी पुजा कर्साहु एसार्ही बर्ना, लेरुवा पैठ हसे चैत पैठ बर्ना।” <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/5-myths-about-the-tharu">The Tharu </a>take the names of all the gods they worship — such as Somesor Baani, Kalki Maai, and Bikram Baba, and perform Sansaari Puja, a traditional ritual to protect crops, wild and domestic animals, insects, and everything in nature. This ritual reflects the community’s deep respect and spiritual bond with the natural world and is performed three times a year. Bikram Mahato, 65, recalls an incident six years ago when 10 people entered Chitwan National Park to cut fodder grass. A tiger was 50m away, silently watching them and preparing to attack. The group quickly decided not to run or scatter. Instead, they stayed close together.&nbsp; This smart and immediate decision prevented a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/close-encounters-with-tigers-in-nepal">tiger attack</a>. It also depicts the Tharu indigenous community’s understanding of nature and wildlife, as well as their choice of coexistence and protection. The Nepal government and foreign aid organisations have mostly forgotten the history of Tharu–tiger coexistence and the community’s silent but c<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/conservation-at-the-crossroads">rucial role in tiger conservation</a>. Nevertheless, let us hope that the state will eventually acknowledge and pay tribute to the contributions of the Indigenous Tharu in protecting the forests and wildlife, especially the tigers, that currently make up Chitwan National Park. Birendra Mahato is an elected member of the Ratnanagar Municipality Ward 6 and Founder Chair of the Tharu Culture Museum Research Centre in Sauraha.

Nepal’s Tharu are tiger protectors

Year 2000. The world was gripped by the Y2K panic, The Millennium Bug that many feared would wreck global computer networks. The US waged punitive wars following 9/11. Google was launched in 1998, and its search engine and Gmail soon overtook AOL, Hotmail and Yahoo! The EU floated the Euro, and China was asserting itself on the world stage. Nepal was still a monarchy. The country’s population was only 23 million. Most people got their news on community radio. Evening news bulletins on tv channels had higher ratings than entertainment. Amidst political turmoil, readers bought national daily broadsheets at news-stands. Content was politically top-heavy. The Maoist conflict was entering its fifth year, and there was sporadic news of the government’s Kilo Sierra 2 operation which killed more civilians than guerrillas, adding fuel to the insurgency. The Nepali Congress (NC) and the UML were at each other’s throats, calling for national shutdowns and squandering the hopes of renewal from a democracy their leaders fought to restore in the 1990 People’s Movement. Hardliners in the royal family were getting restless. Scientific proof about global warming, erratic weather and media coverage spread public awareness about climate breakdown. Dire predictions about what was going to happen during the course of the century proved to be optimistic -- we are already seeing today what climatologists said would happen in 2100. Back then, facts still mattered, the mainstream press swayed opinion, investigative journalism exposed wrongdoing and held power to account. In Nepal, editors and foreign correspondents were opinion-makers, some as well-known as political figures, and sometimes as powerful. <h2>Nepali Times</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250724110720_468fead795119919172c5f87adedc9524d3d1c687c481beb0c67136be80ff801.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250724110720_468fead795119919172c5f87adedc9524d3d1c687c481beb0c67136be80ff801" data-rendition-name="original" width="457" height="666" loading="lazy" alt="NT #1"> </figure>  Himalmedia Pvt Ltd was launched in 1998 with the flagship fortnightly Himal Khabarpatrika, and Nepali Times started in April 2000 with online content hosted on nepalnews.com. A practice issue was printed in May, and the #1 edition debuted in the week 19-25 July 2000 at the dawn of a new century and new millennium. We chose the ‘midi’ size between broadsheet and tabloid, also called the Berliner format. Indian graphic artist Rustam Vania did the design of a paper convenient to hold and read, an easy and visually rich digest of happenings around the country in lively, stylish English. But why English? We explained in the very first Editorial: ‘In the heyday of the Panchayat in the early 1980s, we were often asked why we worked for The Rising Nepal. Our stock reply: “Because His Majesty reads it.” Those were the days when few outside the charmed circle of Kathmandu expatriates and local elite read English. So what changed? First, the number of people who read English has grown … English is a global lingua franca. There is a class of Nepalis who want more than just make-do English, they want to be fluent in it. English has another advantage: it is easier to be rational in it. One is expressive and effusive in one’s mother tongue, feelings are stronger in the colloquial … In a language that is learnt formally and among readers of an international language, there is less tolerance of intolerance.’ Today in the age of trolling and hate speech, maybe English is not so ‘rational’ after all. The social web has changed so much: readers are drawn to entertainment on digital platforms that mine their personal data and preferences, the political views of users are entrenched and radicalised by algorithms, there is less space for coherent give-and-take to find the middle ground in disputes. The media’s business model has failed under the predatory onslaught of Big Tech. At a time when a free and independent press is needed more than ever to counter populism, resolve wars, or find solutions to the climate crisis, the media is on mute. There is overt political and corporate control of content, and intolerance of tolerance is increasing. Journalism has had to reinvent itself to balance disinformation and falsehoods in cybersphere. At the moment Nepal is a relatively open society, with one of the freest environments in Asia for media. There are efforts to curb that freedom by the other three branches of the state, but solidarity among journalists is strong. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="750" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LJX9JHqgMdU?si=2ZSlPWN6YqPSbOY9" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> Nepali Times itself survived the digital transition with an agile strategy that straddles both print and online for content dissemination and revenue. Those who started reading Nepali Times straight out of university when they were 25, are now 50 years old. We have kept a loyal readership, while welcoming a new generation of users – some of them, surprisingly, preferring the print edition. We have emphasised multimedia content, preferring to show rather than tell through interactive digital infographics and a well-visited YouTube channel. The hardcopy and online editions complement each other.&nbsp; Nepali Times has 150,000 unique visitors per month on its website, and over 38% of you come in through the front door in organic searches, 39% through search engines, and the rest click links to stories on our social media posts. The average duration a reader spends on a Nepali Times article is relatively high compared to other media: 2 minutes. Despite the perception that the content is read by older people, it is still mostly popular in the 25-40 age group. Readers of the online pages are divided roughly 30:70 between Nepal and the rest of the world. &nbsp; In an age of mobile phone saturation, &nbsp;endless scrolling on a small screen, there is still something to be said about the impact of high quality photographs on a 30 inch spread in the centerfold on this paper.&nbsp; Which may be why despite print media worldwide either shutting down or in crisis, the number of subscribers buying the print edition delivered to their homes or offices every Friday morning in Kathmandu has been constant over the past 25 years. Nepali Times is also available as an e-paper on www.nepalitimes.com as well as a weekly newsletter emailed to about 4,000 subscribers through Substack every Sunday. Himalmedia has now been repurposed as a non-profit company. Its Himal Khabar magazine and Nepali Times will remain dedicated to fostering a national conversation of issues before they become problems.&nbsp; Media consumption is shifting, readers are fragmented by algorithm and devices, but it is good, old-fashioned reporting that keeps society informed of trends affecting their lives. Journalism that is fair and balanced provides perspective to make sense of the cacophony.&nbsp; We thank all readers, partners and well-wishers in Nepal and the rest of the world for being with us for the last 25 years. We look forward to the next 25 with a fresh and youthful newsroom team.&nbsp; Kunda Dixit Former Editor, now Publisher

Kunda Dixit

Publisher's Note

Droughts are not uncommon in Nepal. In 1983, the monsoon failed and international food aid had to be parachuted into western Nepal to avert famine. The Tarai has long suffered from too much water or too little. This year it is too little. The monsoon arrived ahead of schedule on 1 June, but since then there has been only 20% of the normal precipitation in the eastern Tarai, and only one-third of paddy fields have been planted. On Wednesday, the Cabinet decided to declare Madhes Province a ‘disaster-hit zone’, and Prime Minister K P Oli told Parliament that the Nepal Army could be deployed if necessary to alleviate the water shortage. But government response could be limited since this is a crisis that took years to build up. Politicians have blamed climate breakdown, but the reality is more complicated. Denudation of the fragile Chure Hills, river-bed mining for boulders and sand, and over-extraction of ground water on both sides of the border, are more important factors. Climate change has just made the human-induced causes worse. The farmers of the Madhes are used to “gambling with the monsoon”. Precious paddy seedlings are transplanted, but since so much of the agriculture is rain-fed, failure of the monsoon does not just mean no harvest, but also the loss of seeds that could have been eaten. &nbsp;&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250724040752_bd7bb70c2eda9b421809d178610461f94aee645076cf3bc49900357b6f654d23.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250724040752_bd7bb70c2eda9b421809d178610461f94aee645076cf3bc49900357b6f654d23" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1204" loading="lazy" alt="Tarai districts gasp for water NT"> </figure>  Monsoons used to be like clockwork, vegetation in the highlands to the north controlled floods and recharged groundwater, population density and intensive agriculture in India and Nepal had not yet happened. The rains were something to celebrate. Although farmers here remember monsoon failures before, this year’s drought is happening after many years. And it is not just no rain, ponds and water pumps have gone dry, even deep tubewells provide limited water. Cities like Birganj and Janakpur are badly hit. The eight Madhes districts have the highest outmigration rates in Nepal, crop failure and lack of water is surely going to add to the push factor this year. If this is the situation during the monsoon, many wonder what will it be like in the dry season. It is said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Politicians do not have a magic wand to solve this crisis – it is the result of past mistakes and poor planning. The Prime Minister said on Wednesday that deep tube wells would be drilled to pump water, but this could exacerbate the problem by lowering the groundwater table even further. In the past month, the people of the borderlands are wondering what went wrong. There is not much they can do about global climate breakdown, but a responsive federal or provincial government could take measures to address the immediate crisis and launch mid- and long-term mitigation plans. The Madhes water crisis has exposed the historical inattention and neglect of the federal government. That is nothing new, Kathmandu has always disregarded the plains. Wards, municipalities and cities of the Tarai have had to deal with it on their own, in many places fire brigade tankers have been deployed to ferry drinking water.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250724040752_5894923ae3375fb07caec431fcb5458a49fa92fdfe3b2694c00c2662ce3161e4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250724040752_5894923ae3375fb07caec431fcb5458a49fa92fdfe3b2694c00c2662ce3161e4" data-rendition-name="original" width="960" height="720" loading="lazy" alt="Tarai districts gasp for water NT"> </figure>  Some of the reasons for the water emergency here is what has been allowed to happen in the upper catchment in the Mahabharat and Chure. Wells are going dry not just because of farms in Nepal over-pumping – groundwater does not respect national boundaries. Geographically, the plains, hills and mountains may look different but they are part of the same ecosystem, the same river basins. The Himalayan eco-biological domain is not only mountains, it includes the plains. There are also interventions that can be done at the local level. Wetlands, marshes and ponds that used to store monsoon water and recharge the aquifers have been built over in the past decades due to urban expansion.&nbsp; Traditional water conservation practices have been abandoned. Some of these were carried over since 1990 with Village Development Committees, but urban pressure, settlements along the highways &nbsp;and the almost complete disappearance of the dense jungle that used to cover the northern edges of the eight districts. The Tarai now has 53% of Nepal’s population, with Madhes Province alone having 6.5 million people. Private water tanker companies are doing a roaring business. But the water they distribute is neither clean nor cheap. It is enough only for household use, not for agriculture.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250724040752_d068f249d0abd7e2766218de4ae4cb9e953d34fc920bcca1b0902b3abb4d695b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250724040752_d068f249d0abd7e2766218de4ae4cb9e953d34fc920bcca1b0902b3abb4d695b" data-rendition-name="original" width="960" height="720" loading="lazy" alt="Tarai districts gasp for water NT"> </figure>  The Tarai used to be Nepal's rice bowl producing surplus grain to feed the whole country. The soil has been poisoned by chemical fertiliser and pesticides, and now there is no water. Loss of forest in the Chure slopes has also brought down sand and reduced the fertility of the soil. There is no reason the Tarai should suffer such a severe water shortage just because the rains fail. There is plenty of water flowing down snowfed Himalayan rivers that can be channeled for agriculture with schemes like the Marin-Kamala Diversion.&nbsp; What has to be understood is that this severe drought in the Madhes is not just the problem of Madhes Province, it is a problem for Nepal. It is an opportunity for Kathmandu to show that it cares for the people of the Tarai, and take steps to address the crisis before public outrage in the plains boils over again.&nbsp; Unless this crisis is tackled on an emergency footing, there is a danger of mass out migration due to the lack of water. Let’s set aside climate breakdown for now, let us tackle the man made causes first. The federal government declaring Madhes Province a disaster zone is a glimmer of home, but the people sweltering in the desiccated plains are waiting for that pronouncement to be followed by action. Chandrakishore is a Birganj-based political commentator who writes this monthly column BORDERLINES in Nepali Times. @kishore_chandra

Chandra Kishore

Borderlines

Tarai districts gasp for water

In 2015, the landmark <a href="https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/english_paris_agreement.pdf">Paris climate agreement</a> set the ambitious but necessary goal of limiting global warming to 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and ensuring that the increase stays “well below” 2°C. With the average global surface temperature having <a href="https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/global-climate-202505">already reached</a> 1.1°C (1.98°F) above the twentieth-century baseline, time is running out to reach this goal. Yet governments have so far failed to agree on a strategy for doing so.
At last month’s 62nd session of the United Nations Climate Change Subsidiary Bodies (SB62) in Bonn – the mid-year negotiations intended to lay the groundwork for November’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém – countries got so <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/06/16/bonn-bulletin-climate-talks-delayed-by-agenda-fight/">hung up</a> on the details of the agenda that little progress was made. Such delays have long characterised the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, but they are at odds with scientific reality, which demands rapid and unified action.
Building consensus is thus a key challenge facing Brazil’s COP30 presidency. The task ahead is formidable – not only because of the challenges inherent in the UNFCCC process, but also because four interconnected global developments are undermining trust and impeding multilateral cooperation.
First, the global-governance architecture, with the UN at its core, is showing signs of <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/06/25/united-nations-80-year-birthday-war-peace/">disarray</a>. Institutions that were designed to nurture and facilitate cooperation are increasingly hamstrung by bureaucratic inertia and outdated organisational structures. With <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/01/lets-summon-the-courage-for-un-reform">reform efforts gridlocked</a>, the UN system risks losing its relevance, and multilateralism its credibility.
Second, the rise of <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/01/07/trump-transactional-global-system-us-allies-markets-tariffs/">transactional</a> diplomacy has meant countries prioritise their own short-term interests over collective long-term needs. This approach – based on a <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/27/us-values-based-foreign-policy-trump-ideology/">narrow conception</a> of national interest – effectively precludes broad-based cooperation, as it erodes the norms that have traditionally underpinned international engagement.
Third, compromise is increasingly being rejected in favor of “<a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/05/29/realism-rules-trump-order-institutions/">realism</a>,” leading to extreme polarisation and entrenched negotiating positions. Multilateral negotiations regularly come <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/06/27/countries-reach-hard-fought-compromise-on-climate-adaptation-metrics-in-bonn/">down to the wire</a>, and the results are often disappointing, further encouraging transactional engagement at the expense of cooperation and compromise.
Finally, climate change is increasingly taking a back seat to other challenges, with <a href="https://acleddata.com/conflict-index/">armed conflicts</a>, a global <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/voices/global-trade-has-remained-resilient-so-far-but-a-harp-slowdown-is-underway">trade slowdown</a>, intensifying <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2025/06/10/global-economic-prospects-june-2025-press-release">growth headwinds</a>, and record <a href="https://unctad.org/news/debt-crisis-developing-countries-external-debt-hits-record-114-trillion">debt levels</a> consuming countries’ political attention, diplomatic space, and financial resources.
Brazil clearly has its work cut out for it. Above all, it must resist the tendency for COP presidencies to emphasise fresh agreements and ambitious commitments – the kind that grab headlines and make the negotiations look like a smashing success but often fall short when the hard work of implementation begins. Brazil’s COP30 presidency must eschew flashy results in favour of pragmatic pathways to deliver on past commitments.
Fortunately, Brazil recognises this. Its <a href="https://cop30.br/en/brazilian-presidency/letters-from-the-presidency/fourth-letter-from-the-presidency">Fourth Letter to the International Community</a> outlines an Action Agenda aimed at making progress on what the world has “already collectively agreed” during previous COPs and in the Paris climate agreement. Specifically, the Agenda seeks to leverage existing initiatives to complete the implementation of the first “<a href="https://unfccc.int/topics/global-stocktake/about-the-global-stocktake/outcome-of-the-first-global-stocktake">global stocktake</a>” under the Paris agreement, which was <a href="https://unfccc.int/topics/global-stocktake">concluded</a> at COP28.
This focus on previously agreed outcomes is well-suited to the current geopolitical context, in which any agreement can be difficult to reach. Representatives at the SB62 in Bonn did not achieve a consensus, and last month’s G7 summit <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/what-did-not-happen-at-the-g7-summit-in-canada-and-why-it-matters/">failed</a> to deliver a joint communiqué. Rather than perpetuating stalemates, the Action Agenda invites stakeholders to make progress where agreement already exists.
The Agenda also charts the way forward. It is organised into six thematic “axes,” including stewarding forests, oceans, and biodiversity; transforming agriculture and food systems; and building resilience for cities, infrastructure, and water. “Unleashing enablers and accelerators” in finance, technology, and capacity-building – the final, cross-cutting axis – will accelerate implementation at scale.
Since responsibility for the implementation and governance of climate policy is distributed among many actors – which must have some level of trust that others are doing their part – the Agenda also establishes “transparency, monitoring, and accountability” as top priorities. To this end, Brazil’s COP30 presidency should seek to deliver a set of shared principles and supportive mechanisms.
As COP30 Special Envoys, we extend our full support to the Action Agenda. By emphasising consolidation, rather than spectacle, Brazil is <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/06/20/brazil-lets-deliver-on-our-old-climate-promises-before-making-new-ones/">setting the stage</a> for a highly productive COP30 – one focused on bridging divides, building trust, and delivering genuine progress. The task ahead is daunting, but the chance to rebuild momentum is real.
This commentary is signed by Adnan Amin, CEO of COP28; Arunabha Ghosh, CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water; Carlos Lopes, Chair of the African Climate Foundation; Jacinda Ardern, former Prime Minister of New Zealand; Jonathan Pershing, former US Special Envoy for Climate Change; Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation; and Patricia Espinosa, former Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC. The authors are <a href="https://cop30.br/en/brazilian-presidency/special-envoys">COP30 Brazilian Presidency Special Envoys for Strategic Regions</a>.
Jacinda Ardern is a former prime minister of New Zealand.
Carlos Lopes, a former UN under-secretary-general and former executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, is an honorary professor at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town, a visiting professor at Sciences Po, and the African Union’s High Representative for Relations with Europe. He is the author of <a href="https://www.selfdeceptiontrap.info/">The Self-Deception Trap: Exploring the Economic Dimensions of Charity Dependency within Africa-Europe Relations</a> (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024).
Laurence Tubiana, a former French ambassador to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, is CEO of the European Climate Foundation and a professor at the École Normale Supérieure.

No copout at Belém

The monsoon has got bad press because Nepal’s tourism operators actively told visitors to avoid <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/managing-the-monsoon?%2F">the rainy season</a>. It is time to change that. The reason can be found right here in the vast alpine meadows of Central Nepal where this time of year you can walk on velvet grass of pastures abloom with delicate pink, red and yellow flowers as the mist rolls up the valley. There is no sound except the hum of bumble bees. &nbsp;&nbsp; There are dozens of places across high Nepal called Chaurikharka, which means yak pasture. But this particular Chaurikharka in Rukum East located at an altitude of 4,000m stands out for its serene beauty, rustic charm and bucolic setting. There is just the occasional chime of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">yak bells</a> in the distance, and the sharp whistle of herders corralling sheep. &nbsp;&nbsp; The grass shoots are so fragile that one hesitates to step on them, the rounded ridges appear and quickly vanish in waves of mist. With the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/before-the-next-monsoon"> arrival of monsoon</a>, these meadows are a soothing shade of green dotted with millions of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/the-anatomy-of-a-flower?%2F=">multi-coloured flowers</a>. Until very recently, it took a week or so to hike up to places like Chaurikharka, but with the expansion of the road network even to these far-flung mountains in the lap of Dhaulagiri, they are much more accessible. It is just a three-hour uphill from the Mid-Hill Highway on the border between Baglung and Rukum East.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250802130828_a0b06b494d751b2144ffbbf10894ea64b29e8aed844bc8c66171783abfaf4e16.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250802130828_a0b06b494d751b2144ffbbf10894ea64b29e8aed844bc8c66171783abfaf4e16" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="Visit Nepal in the monsoon"> </figure>  Purists would say that such easy access devalues the sanctity of these remote high meadows, but it also means more people will be moved to treasure the experience, appreciate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/natures-fragile-gift-to-nepal">the value of nature </a>so they can take steps to protect it.&nbsp; To be sure, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/deadly-monsoon-in-nepal-turns-deadlier">monsoon season can be challenging for road travel</a>. The roads are rough even at the best of times, and in the monsoon they become muddy and treacherous, often blocked by<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/monsoon-deluge-in-nepal"> landslides</a>. But that could be precisely the kind of adventure that the more intrepid visitors crave. Improved road connectivity has already made Chaurikharka and places like Badimallika &nbsp;and other sacred lakes in the mountains of western Nepal popular with domestic tourists. What is driving this traffic is the urge to go to exotic new places and share videos and selfies on social media. Several of Nepal’s travel vloggers have visited Chaurikharka and popularised the place, enticing followers on TikTok or YouTube to retrace their footsteps. But even as they become more popular, these fragile and once-remote places should be protected from over-tourism.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250731110736_f97110b7cdc3e7f80d5877690948fc9f4c95a09c583deb23b07355491e6c5446.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250731110736_f97110b7cdc3e7f80d5877690948fc9f4c95a09c583deb23b07355491e6c5446" data-rendition-name="original" width="1083" height="699" loading="lazy" alt="Visit Nepal in the monsoon NT"> </figure>  <h2>INCREASING FOOTFALL</h2> Chaurikharka is located in Bhume Rural Municipality of East Rukum, near the scenic valley of Dhorpatan in Baglung district. Even in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/monsoon-culture">middle of the monsoon</a>, there is a steady stream of Nepali hikers trooping to these high pastures – especially during festival days like Saune Sankranti which this year was on 17 July and actually marks the auspicious beginning of the monsoon here. “This year the rains have not been as heavy and there have been some clear mornings when we could see everything from Dhaulagiri to Machapuchre,” says Khageswar Bhandari, who trekked up here from the road. “The flowers, the greenery and the snowy mountain views make this an incredibly unique place.”&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250802130824_1b9e26f2e9853fdfe69154bb42a7c9ea6da4bf4940efc1da99b304dcfbd7d3d9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250802130824_1b9e26f2e9853fdfe69154bb42a7c9ea6da4bf4940efc1da99b304dcfbd7d3d9" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1152" loading="lazy" alt="Visit Nepal in the monsoon"> </figure>  Chaurikharka is worthwhile to get to in any season, but it has a different charm during the monsoon. Word has spread and because it is now easy to get to from Baglung or even Pokhara, people have been flocking here.&nbsp; “Holidays and Saturdays see the largest crowds, with up to 500 visitors every day,” says ward chair Mankaji Pun of Bhume.&nbsp; There was a time not too long ago when local herders brought sheep, goats, cows, buffaloes, horses, and mules to graze here during the monsoon. Although there are still livestock around, animals have been replaced by visitors taking selfies. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-monsoon-and-nature-s-arithmetic">The monsoon, and nature’s arithmetic</a>, Tom Robertson Ward Chair Pun says infrastructure development is his main priority. A foot trail to Chaurikharka was built last year by the Tourism Division Office in Kohalpur, but access via the Raniwas-Koipa road section still remains challenging.&nbsp; “If we get more budget, we can improve the road and facilities to make Chaurikharka the main tourist attraction of this region,” says Bhume Municipality Chair Hom Prakash Shrestha. “After that, we hope to promote Chaurikharka as a top tourist spot.”&nbsp; Economic activity is also picking up with the arrival of visitors, but there seems to be a need to manage the makeshift sheds made of corrugated sheets that spoil the beauty of the place. Tea shops and lodges are also available but facilities are basic. Kuldeep Neupane took a three-day trip from Ghorahi in Dang to visit Chaurikharka recently, and says: “This is an ideal trip to make a quick getaway and let nature recharge your mind and body. And it is much more fun with a tent, to watch the sunrise over the Himalaya or the mist blowing in.”

Visit Nepal in the monsoon

The final investigation report on the crash of a Saurya Airlines jet on 24 July 2024 at Kathmandu airport has revealed flaws in the carrier’s technical operation procedures, poor monitoring by the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) and gaps in the airport’s emergency response. Eighteen people including a child were killed, and only the captain survived as the plane plunged seconds after takeoff, crashing within the airport perimeter. This was the latest in a series of aircraft accidents in previous years, and further tarnished Nepal’s already poor aviation safety record and contributed to the country being retained in the EU’s air safety list. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The circumstances in the Saurya crash were different from the Yeti Airlines crash in Pokhara in January 2022 that killed all 72 on board, and two Tara Air crashes in February 2016 and May 2022 on approach to Jomsom that together claimed 45 lives. However, all four tragedies were a result of negligence of carriers and crew, failure to follow procedures, regulatory slackness, and overconfidence. The Saurya crash, especially, was a glaring example of how an ailing airline broke its own rules to allow passengers, including non-employees, a joy ride to Pokhara on a maintenance ferry flight. CRASH REPORT The Final Investigation Report prepared by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission and released on the first anniversary of the crash last week carried a long list of rules that were ignored or broken, and of regulatory failure. The first mistake was to cram spares, tools and inflammable chemicals needed for the aircraft’s C-Check in Pokhara into the cargo hold flouting its own ground handling procedures.&nbsp; There was no check-in of passengers, some of whom were not even employees – even though regulations say only flight and maintenance crew should be on board a maintenance positioning flight. Many brought their own luggage into the plane and stored it unsecured in the cabin. There was no flight attendant to give a safety briefing to passengers. The load and trim charts given to the flight crew were rough estimates, and the total takeoff weight of the plane was 18,300kg plus or minus 200 kg. That would still have been all right, but there was a glaring mistake in the speedchart Saurya pilots were using to calculate the minimum takeoff speed (known as VR), and it had been wrong ever since the 21-year-old aircraft entered service with the airline in 2017. FAULTY DATA&nbsp; The Commission probed Flight Data Recorder inputs from previous takeoffs of the Canadian-built CRJ200-LR in 2023-2024 and found that the undetected error in the speedchart had caused the plane to pitch up at an abnormal rotation rate at least 18 times on previous takeoffs.&nbsp; Any rotation rate more than 3°/sec is regarded as unusual. But on at least two occasions, this aircraft with tail number 9N-AME had rotation rates of 5.8°/sec and 5.5°/sec, the second one was when the pilot who survived was flying in March 2024.&nbsp; On this particular day, the plane’s rotation rate was 6.5°/sec, causing it to go into a deep stall soon after takeoff, the Commission report said. Essentially, the plane was not flying fast enough down the runway to take off safely.&nbsp; It is not yet clear whether excess weight, unsecured luggage, wrong centre of gravity were also factors, but relying on a faulty speedchart for the given takeoff weight, the captain flying pulled back on the yoke before the plane had reached takeoff speed and at a pitch angle that was too steep. The investigation report says the plane then went into a deep stall and started banking right with the stick shaking. At this point, the flight officer on the right hand seat is heard on the cockpit voice recorder saying: “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Sir, Sir, Sir…” It then banked left before the pilot flying turned the plane sharply to the right again in an evasive action to avoid the parking aprons of the international and domestic terminals. Had he not done so, there would have been a disaster of a much greater magnitude at Kathmandu airport that day. The plane scraped the runway with its right wingtip, collided with a container having helicopter spare parts, and plunged into a gully east of the runway, exploding in a fireball. The investigation also noted that the impact forces seemed to be survivable for some occupants. The fire trucks took unnecessarily long to reach the site even though it was inside the airport perimeter. The absence of an ICAO-standard runway strip, inadequate rescue drills, lack of training, and a blocked emergency service gate leading to the crash site were cited as other factors. &nbsp;&nbsp; <h2>Timestamp of a Disaster</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250731110724_39cdd04693994ce6e55a5b302905c0fa4884fe85bed21ff0779bb1439f3a5725.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250731110724_39cdd04693994ce6e55a5b302905c0fa4884fe85bed21ff0779bb1439f3a5725" data-rendition-name="original" width="778" height="826" loading="lazy" alt="Flouting rules caused Saurya tragedy NT"> </figure>  11:10:34 - The Saurya Airlines CRJ200 on the takeoff roll from runway 02. It had a takeoff weight of about 18,300kg, but the pilot’s speedcard had a previously undetected mistake about the minimum takeoff speed. 11:10:55 -The plane with tail number 9N-AME goes into deep stall soon after takeoff because it does not have enough speed to lift its weight. The plane also has an abnormally steep nose-up attitude.&nbsp; 11:11:03 - Without enough speed to generate lift, the plane banks right, then left and right again in CCTV photos taken from the domestic apron (below). If it had not banked right, it could have hit the aprons and terminal buildings. Seen parked is Saurya’s other CRJ200 with tail number 9N-ANM.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250731110732_608132f7225c649125cca2691dd6a6bf930984c5b359e888d7ad9e5eacce3afd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250731110732_608132f7225c649125cca2691dd6a6bf930984c5b359e888d7ad9e5eacce3afd" data-rendition-name="original" width="770" height="555" loading="lazy" alt="Flouting rules caused Saurya tragedy NT"> </figure>  11:11:08 - The plane scrapes the runway with its right wingtip, and falls into the gully. The captain is thrown off the left side of the cockpit and survives. 11:11:15: Plane explodes in a fireball inside the airport perimeter. Firefighters take time to reach the site because of lack of access road and a blocked gate. Read the full investigation report <a href="https://www.tourism.gov.np/files/9N-AME%20AIC%20Final%20Report.pdf">here</a>.

Flouting rules caused Saurya tragedy

French citizen Louis arrived in Nepal for the first time earlier this year, planning to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-abcs-of-a-winter-trek-in-nepal">trek the Annapurna Circuit </a>before heading down to Bardia to hopefully catch a glimpse of some<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-counting-its-tigers"> tigers</a>. Before he began his journey from Besisahar, Louis (who only revealed his first name) had imagined breathing crisp mountain air, and following the melodious gurgle of the Marsyangdi.&nbsp; Instead, he had to breathe fumes and dust all the way to Chame. Louis says he masked his face with a handkerchief: “It was not what I expected, this is not right.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025080304080_f03fce1527cf8a63178e4e82589a1a7096c8cfa28893ca4a5f7fe82d91a6e38a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025080304080_f03fce1527cf8a63178e4e82589a1a7096c8cfa28893ca4a5f7fe82d91a6e38a" data-rendition-name="original" width="2419" height="1814" loading="lazy" alt="Manang trails NT 1"> </figure>  Many other trekkers are similarly disappointed as roads have been built along what used to be <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/a-walk-back-in-time-chandragiri-hatiban">walking trails</a>. Manang and Humla are the last remote regions in the Himalaya to be connected to the national road network. &nbsp;Construction of the 87km Besisahar-Manang road began in 1994, but was stalled during <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/14-years-after-conflict-no-closure-in-nepal">the Maoist conflic</a>t, and finally finished in 2012.&nbsp; Most of it has not yet been blacktopped, and sections have been carved out of vertical cliff faces, making them treacherous. But it has allowed road access to Manang, a journey that previously took a week on foot.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025080304084_32b3ca875a0df9f1dd42dbe915e6f6a2cd4f2e53f1cf2d3ee5cbdb3435905000.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2025080304084_32b3ca875a0df9f1dd42dbe915e6f6a2cd4f2e53f1cf2d3ee5cbdb3435905000" data-rendition-name="original" width="2400" height="1505" loading="lazy" alt="Manang trails NT 1"> </figure>  While the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-road-out-of-nepal">road has improved access</a>, it has impacted on<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/trekking-in-the-time-of-climate-change"> trekking tourism </a>— the mainstay of Manang’s economy. The number of tourists visiting the scenic valley behind the Annapurnas grew from 21,245 in 2023 to 30,866 in 2024. The Annapurna Circuit is known for unique sights like <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=9194">Tilicho</a>, one of the highest lakes in the world, the Thorong La pass that connects Manang to Mustang, and the valley’s own rich cultural heritage. Thorong La at 5,416m is the highest hiking pass in the world, and was used by locals for trade with Mustang before it became a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/lift-restrictions-on-upper-mustang">popular trekking route</a>. &nbsp; “For guests, the excitement of reaching Thorong La is now overshadowed by their disappointment of having to journey through dusty roads to get there,” says Manang lodge-owner Ongma Gurung. “That is the complaint we get the most.” <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/tourism-that-treads-lightly-on-the-land">Local tourism </a>operators are trying to get the government to build alternative foot trails. But there have been delays due to a lack of budget.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025080304084_c5f76e398182785bb17846a148e3ca89de5687b4623580f8e2d725a7a287edfa.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="2025080304084_c5f76e398182785bb17846a148e3ca89de5687b4623580f8e2d725a7a287edfa" data-rendition-name="original" width="2419" height="1762" loading="lazy" alt="Manang trails"> </figure>  The Naso Rural Municipality has identified other routes along the Annapurna Circuit in Chyamche, Tal, and Khotro so trekkers can bypass heavy vehicles involved in the construction of the Manang-Marsyangdi Hydropower Project. “But the local government cannot do everything,” admits the chair Dhan Bahadur Gurung. “And for leaders in Kathmandu, Manang is out of sight and out of mind.” Munindra Jung Gurung represents Manang in the Gandaki Provincial Assembly, and says he has raised the issue in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/pokhara-s-tourism-woes">Pokhara</a>. He is hopeful there will be a hearing. To be sure, the road is not all bad news. Locals benefit, the number of visitors has grown, and trekkers can now also save time and use it to explore <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5960">side valleys in Manang</a>, visiting the villages like Nar and Phu. Annapurna Conservation Area (ACA) chief Rabin Kadariya concedes that the road to Upper Manang was crucial to connect the remote region with the rest of Nepal, but adds: “We have built an alternative trail connecting Talgaun, and we will consult local communities about their priorities on other hiking trails.”&nbsp;

Trailing off in Manang

American artist Peter Makela was in Nepal in 2022 on a Fulbright scholarship when he experienced the Matya festival in Patan in which devotees made the rounds of the city’s shrines.&nbsp;
He joined the procession, walking through 2,600 stupa and 140 bahal of the town. That immersion left a lasting impression.
As part of Gallery Mcube’s international residency program in Patan, he put his inspiration to canvas in the exhibition Yala Yatra: Walking, Working, Worshipping. The exhibition also coincides with this month’s Matya festival.&nbsp;
Makela has visited Nepal often in the past 11 years but he mostly stayed in and spent his time around Boudha. “This time I stayed in Patan, put the sites I wanted to visit on my map, and off I went,” he tells us. “Each of my artwork is inspired by the stupas and shrines in Patan that I visited.”
The stupa and Ganesh are recurring motifs in his watercolours, and the elephant gods are located in chaityas — reflecting the interplay and blending of the Hindu and Buddhist faiths in Kathmandu Valley.&nbsp;
The stupas and Ganesh are painted in vivid red, yellow, blue and green against abstract backgrounds meant to represent the sky.
“I use the sky as a backdrop because the sky has no border,” says Makela. “The four colours represent the four elements, the different Buddha families and also lights bouncing off of a rainbow.”
The use of just four colours for all the artwork stands out, and combined with the absence of heavy canvases, frames or stands render Makela’s art striking in its simplicity.&nbsp;
The Ganesh is always holding something and the art also portrays the elephant god’s sacred vehicle, the mouse.
While his vibrant stupas and Ganesh reflect the tangibility of Patan’s tradition and heritage, it is as if the backdrops with their shades of grey and red and yellow capture the soul of the city’s shrines.
“If you look closely, there is a sense of form and formlessness at the same time,” he says.&nbsp;
Makela walked 108 kora around the shrines during his exploration of the town, and in the process developed a spiritual connection with Patan’s heritage and traditions.&nbsp;
The exhibition connects with visitors on a deeper, more spiritual, level as well. And with it, they feel a sense of pride as well as the need to urgently preserve Patan’s heritage for future generations.
“Peter’s inclination and approach towards Nepali art and culture is fascinating, and it reflects in his work,” says Mcube curator Manish Lal Shrestha, whose international artist residency program promotes Nepal’s cultural heritage. &nbsp;&nbsp;
Yala Yatra: Walking, Working, Worshipping
1-5 August&nbsp;
10AM-7PM
Gallery Mcube, Patan