<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114111124/637217bd9c7e80680e0baa03jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1802" height="1160"/><figcaption>On 25 June 2021, China inaugurated a 435km section of the Lhasa-Nyingchi Electrified High-speed Rail. The ‘bullet train’ will have a top speed of 160 km/h and bring Chengdu closer to the Nepal border when completed in 2025. Photo: Xinhuanet</figcaption></figure>Nearly a decade since China adopted the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and five years after Nepal signed it, the connectivity project is trying to rebrand itself.The $1 trillion program focused on trade, development and connectivity is financed largely by Chinese banks and SOEs.The Green Finance and Development Center of Fudan University says a total of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004016252100740X#bib0154">$755 billion has been spent</a> on BRI projects of which more than 65% has gone into energy and transportation.In 2013, President Xi envisioned the BRI as<a href="https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n9514/pdf/book.pdf"> an aspirational world</a> of peaceful connectivity and friendship — one that is free from conflict. Yet, over the years, its success has also drawn widespread criticism questioning its sustainability.Chinese infrastructure projects in BRI include energy, transportation and real estate require construction inputs — like steel, cement and glass that remain oversupplied in China.For example, the utilisation capacity of the total production of steel and oil refining in China had gone down by <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1758-5899.12439">10% from 80 to 70</a>% between 2008 to 2015, signaling bad loans for the banks due to overproduction and negative effects on its overall economy.BRI projects allowed the Chinese government to take steps to ensure that the vast majority of the <a href="http://www.axel-dreher.de/Dreher%20et%20al._Aid_China_Growth.pdf">construction inputs will be sourced</a> from China to offset its industrial overproduction. This allows a large volume of trade to be in China’s favour while creating a huge trade imbalance between China and recipient countries.In 2021, China’s <a href="http://country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=250850808">trade surplus with BRI countries</a> had reached $199.2 billion. For some countries like Italy which saw a rise of exports by 63% in 2021, others like Nepal <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/money/2022/02/05/nepal-s-trade-with-china-going-through-rough-patch">had a trade deficit of Rs232.9 billion</a>, when total exports was only Rs1 billion.One thing has remained clear: while Chinese exports will continue to grow until the BRI projects are completed, countries at the receiving end must bet on export competitive projects that can reduce the trade deficit and ensure sustainability.Secondly, the Chinese <a href="https://madeinchinajournal.com/2021/12/01/builders-from-china-from-third-world-solidarity-to-globalised-state-capitalism/">consider themselves</a> ‘builders’ rather than ‘financers’ projecting their capacity to build projects under the BRI. It is no surprise that China dominates international project contracting. By 2018, <a href="https://www.enr.com/toplists/2019-Top-250-International-Contractors-1">75</a> of the world’s top 250 international contracting firms were Chinese.Most BRI projects have been funded by large state-owned banks of China and implemented by Chinese international contractors and SOEs, at times they have been subject to reproach due to poor labour relations including a lack of awareness of local rules and regulations, and especially on the hiring of Chinese labourers in large numbers instead of locals.Maria Carrai, Professor of China Studies at NYU Shanghai argues in favour of  <a href="https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/65743046/WD_1_s2.0_S0305750X20305167_main-with-cover-page-v2.pdf?Expires=1651327708&amp;Signature=OG1O4XNvHSblwIsYUfrb5blQwbiy0b~SuXiq9aKfw-STjlYGahGVTKHwgN7DXOm3WDAerWqfKY0iHspunM2n9IAGOfzYkuZCryKq8eq0PPgvLwdQG6Ufl3HoizzJTEQAHgj3x627V3359aWAyCxLSa-H6SYYTD2VxbkPQpV2vpOrNQ2YzX886Y0NK0t-s9WCt6Lf7ZlMy2evz54aewwDQJvS3Ki-P2ybBibKxQ5mNtJBd1xZYEe19UvN15ZLL3rmNXTCus2QW6mO6BflTSeGGcPbMsOiD-e-977Qh7KUg46GKxIvGJ8houVVqpvyq7-OoDY3nVJVjAgi3NPhOU0yVQ__&amp;Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA">local adaptive governance</a> because the success of BRI projects relies on effective communication of its social responsibilities to recipient countries with their local governments and making sure that working with the contractors or SOEs can enhance good governance.The Addis - Djibouti SGR railway operation and maintenance <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1634659/ethiopia-kenya-struggle-with-chinese-debt-over-sgr-railways/">were awarded to construction contractors with no actual railway operation experience</a> resulting in a lack of adequate technical capabilities to complete the project.Yet, the major challenge is still that Chinese BRI projects are heavily invested in countries that have historically demonstrated poor and weak governance, lack of transparency and are vulnerable to political shocks and instabilities.Since the start of the BRI in 2013, more than 80% of total Chinese foreign assistance <a href="https://www.cgdev.org/blog/three-key-shifts-development-cooperation-chinas-2021-white-paper">has gone to low-income countries</a>, and for some like Angola, and Montenegro the BRI loans continue to risk having an <a href="https://www.cgdev.org/sites/default/files/examining-debt-implications-belt-and-road-initiative-policy-perspective.pdf">unfavorable degree of dependency</a> on China as its prime creditor.Despite this, BRI in itself has gradually undergone reform over the years. From its lofty and vague ambition in early 2016 that did not indicate its focus, we now know its priority areas.President Xi during the 2nd Belt and Road Forum in 2019 <a href="https://www.business-humanrights.org/de/blog/chinas-white-paper-and-the-bri-can-we-expect-china-to-deliver-on-the-sdgs/">called for cleaner, greener, high-quality infrastructure projects</a> that are “sustainable, affordable, inclusive and accessible”.Chinese-backed projects have previously been under heavy scrutiny due to a lack of transparency and growing debt burden. A 2021 white paper on Belt and Road highlights the need for high-quality sustainable projects and the 2022 MOFCOM’s ‘Guidelines for ecological environment protection of foreign investment cooperation’ stresses the need for Chinese investments to meet international standards of environmentally sustainable projects.In 2021 China declared to <a href="https://greenfdc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/21_07_22_BRI-Investment-Report-H1-2021.pdf">not to invest in coal-power plants</a> and also to cut funding for loss-making projects. Regulatory scrutiny has forced Chinese contractors under BRI to significantly up their game, which means we will see it focusing on smaller and fewer projects of higher quality, particularly in areas of the green and sustainable energy sector.It has been five years since Nepal signed the MoU but has so far seen little in terms of the impact. The BRI projects use the <a href="http://www.edcnepal.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/DAY-4-LECTURE-5-NHDP_Hydropower-Financing-Traditional-Project-Finance-EPC-and-EPC-F_2018-11-29_FINAL.pdf">Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Financing (EPC-F)</a> used in infrastructure projects and are particularly preferred in developing countries where debt markets are less mature and there may be wide variations in the availability and cost of debt financing.The EPC contractor will be responsible to finance a large portion of the project and the government has to provide a sovereign guarantee to safeguard lenders’ interests and provide payment security guarantees on behalf of off-taker, usually government-owned entities.This has generated controversy for the huge risk involved to the host country. The selection process tends to be restrictive to a particular country or set of manufacturers, in this case only to Chinese contractors.For example, only a few weeks back the government of Nepal <a href="https://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/news/china-miffed-with-deuba-govt-s-decision-to-deny-chinese-company-to-develop-budhi-gandaki-hydro-project/">revoked the license</a> issued to the Chinese state-owned China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) for the development of the Budi Gandaki Hydropower Project under the EPCF modality with a total cost of around <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/nepal-refuses-china-s-offer-to-fund-multi-billion-dollar-power-project/story-cfRJPHSKJkn2gqyon7anUL.html">$2.73 billion.</a>After the 2017 BRI agreement, for the first time, Nepal developed a project under the EPC financing modality of $88 million financed by China and with MoU between Nepal’s People’s Energy and China’s Chongqing Water Turbine Works Co. Ltd.The agreement was to develop a 48.8 MW Khimti-2 hydropower project on the border of the Ramechhap and Dolakha districts in Province 3. However, the project suffered a major setback: 500 Chinese workers were prevented from coming back to Nepal due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Similarly, the EPCF model requires the contractors to be present in the project while the main construction takes place.The high-interest rates associated with BRI loans with a relatively short payback period is another drawback for Nepal which prefers grants. Furthermore, in BRI projects there is a right to bid reserved exclusively for Chinese firms, but the Nepali side demands to be open to all.Back then the BRI used to run projects on an ad-hoc basis but by 2022 it has undertaken various reforms to properly guide sustainable infrastructure development.Because the BRI is enshrined into the CCP’s constitution, there is no question regarding its sustainability, but as BRI puts its focus on environmentally friendly infrastructures, countries like Nepal should prioritise projects that can yield better results and help strengthen Sino-Nepal relations.Abiral Khatri is with the NIFRA bank and is a research scholar based previously at Erasmus University Rotterdam, IIM Bangalore and Renmin University of China. Raunab Singh Khatri is the co-founder of The Araniko Project and is a Yenching Scholar in Chinese studies at Peking University.

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BRI enters the tenth year

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101144/636a25309c7e80680e0439b5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="716" height="1000"/><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101144/636a25329c7e80680e0439b6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="657" height="1000">Nothing has exposed the ideological chasm between the ex-UML and ex-Maoist components of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) more than the two widely divergent statements issued on Venezuela this week.Who would have thought that the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela would loom so large in exposing fissures in a government of a country on the other side of the world with which the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal has no real strategic interests.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=20802&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal now has to balance not just India and China, but also the West</a>, Bhairaja Pandey<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=20801&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Eminently beneficial for India and Nepal</a>, Ajit Baral<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/hitching-our-wagon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hitching our wagon</a>The Co-chair of the NCP and prime minister-in-waiting Pushpa Kamal Dahal fired off a statement in full support of the glorious revolutionary comrades under Nicolas Maduro, and denounced US intervention.It has to be said that the US has indeed come across, as it has in the past, as a global bully throwing its weight around with sanctions and threats against a poor and badly-governed country. When will America learn to pick someone its size?But Dahal made a boo-boo by aligning his party, and by association Nepal, needlessly in a power struggle reminiscent of the Cold War.There were two problems with the NCP statement. First was the timing: why would Dahal want to issue it while his party co-chair Prime Minister K P Oli was in Davos trying hard to make a good impression on foreign investors?Oli had admitted before he left that his job was to convince the international community and multinational companies that his government was ‘Communist’ only in name, and that Nepal was open for business. Even if Oli had been only partially successful in removing the stigma, Dahal’s communique firmly identified Nepal as an adherent of an obsolete ideology and a relic of the past.The only explanation we can give to this juvenile behaviour is that Dahal has a sad case of FOMO. By launching a heat-seeking missile aimed at no one in particular, Dahal may also have been trying to re-establish his rather frayed Communist credentials. But the unnecessarily strong language denouncing American 'imperialism' which was creating 'chaos and violence’ was inappropriate, undiplomatic and counterproductive.Oli looked uncharacteristically flummoxed when asked about Dahal's missive when he returned from Davos. The statement also came less than a month after Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali’s meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington DC during which the two discussed implementation of America’s $500 million assistance through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Nepal Compact for road and power connectivity.The two are also understood to have discussed America’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/between-two-oceans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indo-Pacific Strategy</a> which, together with the MCC, are seen as a counter by China as a challenge to its Belt Road Initiative (BRI) which Nepal has signed on to. Gyawali trod a tightrope to balance the geostrategic interests of the two global powers, and clarified that Nepal was not going to join any US-led alliance in the Indo-Pacific.The renaming of the US Pacific Command into Indo-Pacific Command last year, designating India as a <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/del-ktm /obor-or-not-obor-china-india,1051" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Major Defence Partner</a>, the joint Malabar 2017 exercise in the Indian Ocean involving the navies of India, Japan and the US, the revival of the Quad Alliance of Japan, Australia, the US and India as an effort to 'contain' China, are all indications that Sino-US competition is heating up in the region.Asian countries may be nervous about <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/what-china-really-wants/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China’s growing economic and political clout</a>, but Beijing feels it is being encircled by America and its allies. Still, many Southeast and South Asian countries do not want to be forced to choose between America and China.Which is what makes Dahal’s statement on Venezuela so damaging for Nepal at a time when the Foreign Ministry is trying to steer a <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/Equidistance-or-asymmetry-nepal-geopolitics,3850" target="_blank" rel="noopener">neutral course</a> that would benefit Nepal’s trade, investment and infrastructure. The Ministry's damage control this week was with a much more balanced statement saying Nepal respected the democratic will of the people of Venezuela, and opposed foreign interference.During the war, as Chairman Prachanda Dahal famously paraphrased King Prithvi Narayan Shah to say that Nepal was “a dynamite between two boulders”. It seems he has not outgrown his penchant for hyperbole.There was a time when Nepal just had to worry about balancing its giant northern and southern neighbours, but the world is now multi-polar and getting to be a much more complicated place. Our neighbours are drawn into a global power struggle, and being <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/the-triangular-relationship,3332" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a yam between three boulders</a>, Nepal has to be careful about how <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/a-trump-world-us-nepal,3359" target="_blank" rel="noopener">America’s increasingly erratic behaviour </a>will affect its precarious equidistance between India and China.A place to start would be to forge a united and coherent foreign policy strategy that prevents outside powers from using one or other party or faction in Nepal to push their strategic agenda.<h2>10 years ago this week</h2>Just as issue of Nepali Times deals with Nepal’s geopolitical dilemma, ten years ago in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/436" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issue #436 of 30 January - 5 February  2009</a> Prashant Jha <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15620" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported from New Delhi</a> about how India had a ‘wait-and-watch’ policy towards the newly-elected Maoist government led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Excerpt:'India is getting increasingly concerned about the slide in Nepal, but doesn't think it warrants a policy shift just yet. Indian officials admit that they are unhappy with the Maoists: "They have not delivered on their promises,"one official told us, "their commitment to democracy seems doubtful. They are warming up to China. Not good signs."            But sources insist India continues to support the peace and constitution writing process and will not destabilise the present arrangement. "It will be good if non-Maoist actors add pressure on the Maoists. But we will not back any effort to topple the government right now," one senior official told Nepali Times.’<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/436"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101144/636a25359c7e80680e0439b7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="510" height="815"></a>

A YAM BETWEEN 3 BOULDERS

Energy is a critical ingredient for prosperity, and can be a catalyst for deeper regional integration. Energy security is a critical issue for <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/image/Cycling-Kathmandu-Lhasa,396">South Asia</a>, which is home to nearly one-fourth of the world’s population and where economies are growing by an average of nearly 7% each year.But South Asia’s GDP per capita is less than one-third of the global average, and per capita energy consumption is far below the rest of the world, hinting at unmet need in spite of increasing economic growth, industrialisation, an increasing population, and accelerating urbanisation. All of these changes increase the <a href="http://article/nation/nepal-india-thermal-power,3570" data-wplink-url-error="true">demand for electricity</a>.There have been several positive developments in energy cooperation: the 2014 SAARC Framework Agreement on Energy Cooperation and the Power Trade Agreement between India and Nepal. Bilateral frameworks between India and Bangladesh, as well as India and Bhutan, have also been strengthened. Currently, around 2,300MW of power are traded in this BBIN sub-region.These demonstrate win-win benefits for all South Asian countries. For example, Bhutan’s surplus hydropower exports to India account for 25% of its GDP. Bangladesh began importing 500MW of power from India in 2013, helping it reduce load-shedding by 70% and generate annual savings of around $500 million. India also gains by earning revenue from electricity exports.A 2015 World Bank study found that regional electricity cooperation in South Asia could lead to savings of $19 billion per year over the next 25 years. A 2017 study by the USAID-funded South Asia Regional Initiative for Energy Integration (SARI/EI) showed that accelerated power trade between India and Nepal could increase Nepal’s GDP by over $120 billion in the next 30 years.Energy cooperation is therefore not just about increasing integration but also an essential building block for regional prosperity. The US government actively supports regional energy integration in South Asia. We are committed to fostering connections from Central Asia to Southeast Asia, and everywhere in between – through increased physical infrastructure, coordinated regulatory and trade institutions, and human and digital connectivity.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/image/Chief-of-Indian-Army-Staff-General-Dalbir-Singh-in-Kathmandu,987">Regional integration</a> is not just good for South Asia, it is good for the world, including the United States. A more stable, prosperous, and integrated South Asia is more likely when countries of the region are linked through trade agreements and have greater physical infrastructure connections. Our activities include technical training on power contracts, procurement, regulation, and electricity system modeling as well as physical infrastructure – such as the planned 300 km of electricity transmission lines in MCC’s Nepal Compact.International experience has shown that most cross-border power trade begins with bilateral interactions which provide a foundation for multilateral arrangements and transactions. South Asia is moving along this path, and the next step is to coordinate regional energy regulations and policies by:Building strong and effective regulatory regimesDesigning competitive market pricing mechanismsDeveloping solid contracts and agreementsSetting up dispute resolution mechanisms, andSupporting a technical regional coordination agency to facilitate regional planning and development.The United States looks forward to working with both the public and private sector, as well as multilateral organiations, to em-power South Asia. Pun intended.Alaina B. Teplitz is the United States Ambassador to Nepal. This Guest Editorial is adapted from her speech to the 6th SAARC Business Leaders Conclave in Kathmandu on 17 March.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/shared-futures/">Shared futures</a>, EditorialDifferent regionalisms,  Kanak Mani Dixit<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/image/photo-exhibition,402">Forget SAARC</a> ,  Pradumna B Rana<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/image/Cycling-Kathmandu-Lhasa,396">Reimagining South Asia</a>,  Anurag Acharya

Em-powering South Asia

Mention the acronym <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/image/Chief-of-Indian-Army-Staff-General-Dalbir-Singh-in-Kathmandu,987">SAARC</a> and eyes glaze over, people stop reading editorials like these and they turn the page – as some of you probably already have. The South <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/image/photo-exhibition,402">Asian Association for Regional Cooperation</a> has been a regional talk shop ever since it was set up more than 40 years ago, unable to fulfill many of the promises it made about co-prosperity, cooperation, poverty alleviation, energy self-sufficiency, and environmental protection.Unlike ASEAN or the EU, SAARC is hobbled by its asymmetry. One member state has 1,000 times more people than the two smallest countries in the grouping. That gravitational pull, and India’s aversion to multilateralism in dealing with neighbours (combined with a chronic lack of political will among those neighbours to make SAARC work) has hobbled the organisation. There is cynicism about SAARC, even officials from member states publicly poke fun at it. But, like the United Nations, SAARC can only be as effective as its members want it to be.Sub-regional groupings like <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/connecting-Bangladesh-China-India-Nepal,2966">BIMSTEC</a> (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar Economic Cooperation) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative are somewhat more tangible. There are also Track 2 think-tanks and private sector initiatives to get the SAARC juggernaut to roll.The 6th SAARC Business Conclave this week in Kathmandu was one such exercise where, besides the usual lament about unfulfilled aspirations, there was networking and useful sharing of ideas. As in all such SAARC-related events, the elephant in the room was India, and the need to balance its size with its status as an equal member state.However, the dragon in the room was China. How can these economic behemoths be hitched to pull in the same direction, and take South Asia along? So far, Beijing's foray into trade, investment and connectivity in South Asia have been bilateral, but its Belt Road Initiative hopes to go regional with the possible extension of the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Tibet-train-Nepal,3102">Qinghai-Tibet railway through the Himalayan Range</a>, and across Nepal to India.SAARC has been held hostage by politics, specifically the strained relations between its two biggest members, for far too long. Trade, investment in energy, river sharing and better connectivity within South Asia could help bind the countries more closely, and build on existing bilateral agreements, as US Ambassador Alaina B. Teplitz argues in this week’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/guest-editorial/em-powering-south-asia/">Guest Editorial</a>.It is incongruous that intra-SAARC trade constitutes only 5% of the international trade of countries in the region. Of all international investment in the region only 7% is between SAARC members. It is absurd that in this day and age the world’s most deprived region should not be working together to raise the living standard of its people.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/guest-editorial/em-powering-south-asia/">Em-powering South Asia,</a> Alaina B. Teplitz<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/image/Chief-of-Indian-Army-Staff-General-Dalbir-Singh-in-Kathmandu,987">Different regionalisms</a>,  Kanak Mani Dixit<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/image/photo-exhibition,402">Forget SAARC</a> ,  Pradumna B Rana<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/image/Cycling-Kathmandu-Lhasa,396">Reimagining South Asia</a> ,  Anurag Acharya

Shared futures

In the black and white photograph, General Wangdu smiles broadly in front of the dusty cactus garden in Kathmandu’s Annapurna Hotel. With an ill-fitting jacket and shaggy hair he looks benign enough, but this was the last leader of the Tibetan freedom fighters who led the resistance against the Chinese from their remote mountain hideouts in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a>. Five months later, Wangdu was dead. Snapped in March 1974, I had only recently arrived in Nepal. How did I meet this legendary fighter? Possibly with his devoted camp follower, Lynne Klapecki, and probably in the Om Restaurant near Freak Street which was the preferred <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hippie-trail-nostalgia-in-kathmandu">hippie hang-out</a>. Om Lobsang and his brother Yeshe were <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/earthquake-brings-back-memories-of-camps-for-tibetan-refugees">refugees from East Tibet </a>whose cafe offered a friendly welcome and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/momo-loco"> the best momos</a> - they became my in-laws after I married their eldest brother Tenzin, but that was a decade later.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1583" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Photo: LISA CHOEGYAL</figcaption> </figure>  Wangdu’s English was enthusiastically rudimentary, but even riding around town with him on the back of an aging <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-new-motorbike-museum">motorbike</a>, he was a commanding presence. Always flanked by armed outriders, impressive scars marked his forearms and a pistol hung from the cord around his neck. A charismatic guerrilla leader, Wangdu was celebrated by his followers for his tough commitment and respected for his measured pragmatism. He seemed so young to have shouldered such a responsibility of command, leading hundreds of hardened <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/50-years-after-the%20raid-into-Tibet,1012#google_vignette">Khampa combatants </a>through what had been a particularly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heavy-snowfall-over-nepal-himalaya">brutal winter in Mustang</a>, the last bastion to hold out against the Chinese invasion of their Tibetan homeland.&nbsp; The freedom fighters of Tibet, known as the Chushi-Gangdruk, had emerged to resist the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism">Chinese takeover</a> of Tibet during the 1950s. Estimated to be 80,000-strong at the time of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-or-who-after-the-dalai-lama">the Dalai Lama</a>’s final escape to India in 1959, the sheer number of Chinese deployed into Tibet eventually forced the Chushi-Gangdruk to retreat to Mustang, From this high Himalayan stronghold, they continued cross-border raids on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) throughout the 1960s.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="676" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Guerrillas known as the Chushi-Gangdruk emerged to resist the Chinese annexation of Tibet during the 1950s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>  Their Kathmandu base was a small discreet lodge in a back lane near Rani Pokhari. Sipping sweet tea from a blue mug with a chipped lid, I sat bemused in a corner of the Mustang Hotel room whilst Wangdu and his cohorts received a battered brown suitcase from their CIA connection, a tousle-haired American in a leather jacket. Heaved onto the dingy bedspread that covered the thin mattress, it was clicked open to reveal piles of neatly stacked dollar bills.&nbsp; I cannot think why Wangdu allowed me to witness this handover but I was clearly no threat, a newly arrived world traveller with no understanding of the stakes nor any Nepali or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/tibetan-music-in-nepals-sacred-valley">Tibetan language</a>. Despite armed guards in the corridor,Wangdu radiated confidence and bravado, and there was a practiced familiarity to the tense transaction. This deadly dance for many years had been funded by the Americans, tolerated by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-kingdom-within-a-republic">Mustang’s residents</a>, and permitted by King Mahendra and the Nepali authorities who it suited to turn a blind eye.&nbsp; But Mahendra died in 1972, and times were changing. Richard Nixon’s ping-pong diplomacy thawed the cold war and signalled a fresh entente with China. Nepal’s yet-to-be-crowned <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy">King Birendra </a>was under pressure to curb the irritating incursions against the PLA launched from the Nepali territory of Mustang. Keen to appease his northern neighbour, on several occasions the King summoned Wangdu for peace talks but, despite increasingly overwhelming odds, Wangdu refused to surrender.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1055" height="885" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>General Wangdu flanked by two Tibetan resistance fighters in Mustang in the 1970s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31" data-rendition-name="original" width="1044" height="792" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>King Birendra with General Wangdu (right in dark glasses) taken in 1974 possibly in Mustang after one of their few attempts at negotiation. Photo courtesy: RAJRNDRA KUNWAR</figcaption> </figure>  While I naively rode pillion around Kathmandu in the spring sunshine, Wangdu was in the midst of what turned out to be his final round of negotiations with the Nepal government. Refusing to cease hostilities with the Chinese, Wangdu must have suspected the cost of his decision, making his cheerful smile in the photograph all the more poignant and brave. It was only much later that I appreciated the significance of the moment. Wangdu had been sent to replace the first resistance leader in Mustang, Baba Gen Yeshe, a much derided corrupt character who stole money meant for his troops and exploited fleeing refugees by seizing their treasures. Baba Gen Yeshe never forgave Wangdu,and sought revenge in May 1974 by betraying him and his commanders to the Nepal authorities. Renewed Chinese incursions from the north, active PLA collusion with the Nepali forces under the new King, and treachery from within the Chushi-Gangdrukranks combined to seal their fate.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="769" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>British television journalists George Patterson and Adrian Cowell embedded themselves with Khampa guerrillas and accompanied them from Tsum Valley on a cross border raid on a Chinese Army convoy in 1964. Photo: ESSAYS ON NEPAL / SAM COWAN</figcaption> </figure>  Mikel Dunham, renowned author of Buddha’s Warriors, writes: ‘It is possible that Wangdu was waiting for some cue from the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. It is equally possible – during that last, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-human-cost-of-nepal-s-yarsa-gold-rush?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR31-Cqw8oyIwMPzf_35e4Skr0ululJvLf3_vDkzHn-AYG2h8uPw2rqqErg_aem_tGVn5coY1-jA7fze_xqhew">desolate winter </a>– that he made the decision to go out in glory rather than admit defeat. Over the last fifteen years, Wangdu had experienced Tibet’s organized resistance being squeezed and shoved around by every conceivable outside force.&nbsp; First they had been pushed out of their own country by the PLA; then they had been refused sanction while on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds?fbclid=IwAR0PpJ5zUEbwdug3g_U3ar6FUugngRY0S8Tl2v_7wqzrsHmXWcXsKjvL4t4">Indian soil</a>; then they were abandoned by the Americans because, apparently, Nixon wanted to make friends with Wangdu’s mortal enemies, the communists; then they had been betrayed by the vampiric Baba Gen Yeshe – a Tibetan and, even worse, a fellow Khampa; and now, finally Wangdu’s army was being evicted by the Nepalis. One thing was certain: Wangdu was a warrior. To imagine Wangdu simply giving up and settling down in the pacific squalor of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp">refugee camp </a>was unthinkable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49.jpg" data-media-id="editor_20" data-image-id="2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="746" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>The much derided Baba Gen Yeshe, the first Tibetan resistance leader in Mustang, who betrayed Wangdu for personal gain. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="656" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Aditya SJB Rana of the Royal Nepal Army whose team ambushed Wangdu and his cohorts at the top of Tinker Pass in Darchula, West Nepal. Photo courtesy: GAUTAM SJB RANA</figcaption> </figure>  By August 1974 the game was up. Wangdu and six of his exhausted party were killed on their horses by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7270">the Royal Nepal Army</a> on the brink of escape. The officer in charge, Aditya SJB Rana, cleverly predicted their route into India after they failed to silence a police radio in Yari. A carefully laid ambush trapped them near the summit of the Tinker Pass in Darchula,at 5,000 meters the highest military operation of its time. Wangdu’s body was helicoptered to Kathmandu, and a big show made of the royal Nepal victory.&nbsp; The Tibetan armed insurgency against China had reached its end.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_23" data-image-id="20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> </figure>

The Last Days of the Khampa

Starting 17 September Turkish Airlines will fly daily to Seville, one of Spain’s major tourist draws. This is Turkish’s sixth destination in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Bilbao. Seville is in the Andalusia region on Spain’s south coast with a rich Moor history. There are approximately 30,000 Nepalis living in Spain.&nbsp;

Turkish to Seville

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

Digital protection for Nepal’s art

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/prabalgurung/" target="_blank">Prabal Gurung</a> left Nepal for New York in 1999 to escape years of bullying, sexism and homophobia, and to pursue his dream of becoming a fashion designer. He <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqN0VaoAI5w" target="_blank">realised his dream</a>, but did not escape discrimination and racism in the new world. Propelled by passion for fashion, Gurung overcame everything America threw at him. He has attained <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/story/prabal-gurung-recalls-his-first-met-gala-when-zoe-saldana-was-at-his-side?srsltid=AfmBOooy-H0oGgxMit864FnW_Pmw8mUnV8rYrh-co-f6OyYK6m2ip5hP" target="_blank">fame and recognition</a> for his haute couture dress designs while remaining true to his Nepali roots, and is even more resolute in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSmNauyzACk" target="_blank">fighting prejudice</a> in all its forms. Prabal Gurung’s newly-released memoir <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Walk-Like-Girl-Memoir/dp/B0DG11HCDQ?fbclid=IwY2xjawKZfpxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHuZcIJO2OXyXcRm1oq1iG6wzeoF7VJFrQ7GXOFI0YxuZZ4id_CNvSZSZZIna_aem_pG_mOKG73RTnYvN8JaC4fA">Walk Like a Girl</a> is a saga of harrowing abuse in boarding schools in Nepal and India, only finding himself facing a different kind of bullying in the US. He prevails over it all to be where he is today: an award-winning American fashion designer with his own label. Walk Like a Girl was launched last week in New York at a time when everything Gurung fought for — tolerance, inclusion and diversity — are in retreat in his adopted country because of a president who has espoused a culture of bullying. The book is a searing, raw exposé of how cruel and abusive people can be even at a young age in school. On the other hand, it also shows that there are generous, compassionate and open-minded souls out there. In his book, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4le_uWX7YE">Prabal Gurung</a> calls out those who tormented and tried to hold him back (some of their names have been altered). The moral of his story is: resist, never stop believing in yourself, do not let others define you, never lose sight of your dream, and help those who have been kept out. “Walk like a girl” was a slur used by bullies back in school in Nepal and India for Gurung’s effeminate ways. He fought back then, and he is still resisting by turning those words into something to be proud of.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170544_4ffc9c3f565dd2cfa754d10b224816897b82bb31ebaee91b6d79d469fc96f14e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250519170544_4ffc9c3f565dd2cfa754d10b224816897b82bb31ebaee91b6d79d469fc96f14e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1253" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung NT"> <figcaption>Prabal Gurung at home in Kathmandu in the 1990s.</figcaption> </figure>  “Living through it all was one thing, but writing about it is one of the hardest things I have done in my life,” admitted Gurung during the launch. “I broke down constantly during the six-year writing process.” He continues: “I did not want this to be a victim’s book. I did not want to burden my readers with my emotions. I wanted my struggle to be an inspiration for others facing what I faced. I am grateful to those who bullied me in school, they made me a stronger person ready to face the world.” Indeed, this book is a departure from his earlier one titled simply, Prabal Gurung (Abrams, 2019), which was a lush pictorial autobiography of his career in fashion. Walk Like a Girl is not a typical fashion book, it is an intimate tale of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16997">Gurung’s travails and triumphs</a>, and how he willed himself to succeed. Prabal pays a lavish tribute to his mother Durga Rana. We find out she is a descendant of the first wife of the eldest son of Jang Bahadur Rana who was banished to Palpa in the late 19th century. Prabal’s father served in the Singapore Police and that is where he was born before the family returned to Nepal when he was four. Gurung relates with brutal honesty about the violence his mother endured from his father. Durga raises three children as a single mother in Nepal, and Prabal credits her for his fierce determination to resist patriarchy and injustice, which in time manifests itself in his hyper-feminine and subversive dress designs. Writing the book has been a cathartic experience for Gurung, who says he is now relieved of the burdens of his past. It no longer haunts him, and he does not have to prove anything to anyone anymore. Walk Like a Girl has life lessons not just for the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DJmOcSgxdWz/" target="_blank">fashion industry</a>, but for every other profession. How can my job serve a greater cause? Gurung tells us his work is <a href="https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/why-designer-prabal-gurung-doesnt-want-just-stick-fashion" target="_blank">bigger than just making clothes</a>, it is about making the world a better place because it could do with a lot of improvement.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170544_d75296ad8bfdc00d88935f40d23543c6fea3d4d6a10e61a99d6cfc6127f2ee5b.png" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250519170544_d75296ad8bfdc00d88935f40d23543c6fea3d4d6a10e61a99d6cfc6127f2ee5b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1516" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung"> </figure>  This story of chasing the American dream may sound familiar to many immigrants: knocking on doors for jobs, rejections, trying to survive from day to day on expensive rent, and dealing with subtle racism in white America. Gurung finds racism is rife, and he is often mockingly called ‘gaysian’. He writes: ‘There was a strong hypocrisy — this idea of independence felt like a marketting ruse … and for all the talk of feminism in America, these high society women were trapped by the patriarchy just like in Nepal and India.’ After a trek to the Khumbu region in 2013, Gurung is inspired to use the colours, palette and textures of Nepal for his collection exhibited on Manhattan’s 8th Avenue. A major buyer tells him bluntly: “Stick to making pretty dresses … if I need to see a collection like this, I could buy a copy of National Geographic.” The New York Times was equally dismissive: ‘The designer tries to draw connections between blistered techo-fabric used to construct it and the topography of his homeland, Nepal. But, at the moment, he has lost his map.’ One potential investor tells Gurung he cannot design for Americana because “you do not look American”. Gurung wants to use expletives, but restrains himself. After a fundraiser in New York for the Nepal earthquake in 2015, some belittled his effort, saying: “Here comes the saviour."&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/prabal-gurung-by-prabal-gurung">Prabal Gurung by Prabal Gurung</a>, Kunda Dixit The Gurkha DNA must be dominant in Prabal Gurung’s genes because he does not take such mistreatment lying down. When asked by a fashion publicist why he was designing clothes for fat people, he snaps back: “Because of people like you.” He joins the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements, launches the Shikshya Foundation charity in Nepal, and has powerful allies among celebrities who wear clothes he designed: Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Sara Jessica Parker, Kamala Harris, Deepika Padukone … it is a long list.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519150556_48a5f4211991a23fa85b64bbd5377575ca7081d97309d7542035591dda5180fe.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250519150556_48a5f4211991a23fa85b64bbd5377575ca7081d97309d7542035591dda5180fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="1534" loading="lazy" alt="Being Prabal Gurung by design"> <figcaption>Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wearing Atelier Prabal Gurung’s design for Met Gala 2025 in which the theme was ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’. </figcaption> </figure>  “I don’t dress women to look beautiful, they already are,” Gurung says. “I try to bring out their innate strength and grace.” <a href="https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17908766880140171/" target="_blank">Admirers</a> tell Gurung he makes it all look so easy, but he used to put up a strong facade to not show his own vulnerabilities in public. “I was closed because of my childhood experiences,” he says. “I was always on guard to defend myself because I never knew where the next punch would come from.” But in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVepzPA210" target="_blank">Walk Like a Girl,</a> Gurung comes to terms with his vulnerability, and bares his soul. It has not been easy, it took sustained will power and support from his mother, sister Kumudini and a circle of close friends. “I made unbelonging my power,” he says. “Nepal is where I still have my heart and soul. Nepal grounds you. It is where people go to find themselves. But I escaped.” Recently appointed vice-chair of the <a href="https://cfda.com/about-cfda" target="_blank">Council of American Fashion Designers</a>, Gurung says: “I can’t believe I am here, it feels like it is happening to someone else. Writing this book, the healing has finally begun.” <h2>‘Everything is better in color’</h2> The Met Gala was two weeks later, and my table was an example of everything I’d been fighting for all these years as my guests represented everything I believed in: dynamic, powerful, influential women who were unapologetically original and unabashedly graceful. I was grateful to Anna for inviting me to host and dress a table that reflected my ethos—and for her guidance in doing so. I was also aware of the privilege as one of the first-­ever Asian fashion designers—not just from Nepal, but from the entire continent— to get the opportunity to do so. That fact was not lost on me. I reached out beyond the expected Hollywood celebrities and well-­known socialites to curate a table of exceptional women who inspired me. I invited Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt for their first-­ever Met Galas, as well as Michelle Yeoh, Mindy Kaling, Camila Cabello, Ashley Park, Denée Benton, KiKi Layne, Quannah Chasinghorse, and Grace Elizabeth. Together we checked many boxes: Asian, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous, each woman undeniably chic and powerful, a dazzling array of skin tones and experiences that proved my decades‑in‑the-­making hypothesis: everything is better in color. Excerpt from Walk Like a Girl Viking © 2025 by Prabal Gurung  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170520_6b91d560e9f072c37d16876901058c073a51ffa05e7ad1b9461d19e1c9c28215.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="20250519170520_6b91d560e9f072c37d16876901058c073a51ffa05e7ad1b9461d19e1c9c28215" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung book details NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170520_345240c21be400e2ce2ec629b52bd82bb53890e5bd86fe95b48340d84b5f1748.jpg" data-media-id="editor_17" data-image-id="20250519170520_345240c21be400e2ce2ec629b52bd82bb53890e5bd86fe95b48340d84b5f1748" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung book details NT"> </figure>  &nbsp;

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