<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151116/636d08649c7e80680e0a6014jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1319" height="1975"/><figcaption>Photo: UNICEF NEPAL</figcaption></figure>The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/eu-will-stand-by-nepal-in-hard-times/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">European Union</a> has renewed its committment to sharing more than 200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines with low and middle-income nations, including Nepal, by the end of 2021.The doses will be delivered mainly through <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/hope-hyperbole-and-hypocrisy-of-covax/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the COVAX initiative</a>, which has so far provided 122 million doses to 136 countries. This is far less than the quantity originally promised because of supply chain issues and India’s ban on export of its AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine.“Team Europe takes its responsibility in helping the world fight the virus, everywhere. Vaccination is key – that's why it is essential to ensure access to Covid-19 vaccines to countries worldwide,” said EU President Ursula von der Leyen at this week’s Global Health Summit in Rome.In parallel, Europe is providing better access to vaccines, medicines and health technologies in Africa, in part by helping create the right conditions for local vaccine manufacturing in Africa.The initiative will be backed by a €1 billion grant from the EU, and European development finance institutions such as the European Investment Bank (EIB).On 9 July, Team Europe agreed to support large-scale investment in vaccine production by the Institut Pasteur in Dakar. The new plant will reduce Africa's 99% dependence on vaccine imports and strengthen future pandemic resilience in the continent.The European Union is one of the biggest donors of COVAX and has contributed at least €2.47 billion to the initiative, which had committed to providing free vaccines for 20% of Nepal’s population.It sent its first consignment to Kathmandu back in March with 348,000 doses of AstraZeneca Covishield manufactured by Serum Institute of India. But owing to a global manufacturing bottleneck and the export ban in India on vaccines, it was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/im-sad-vaccines-are-delayed-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">unable to deliver any more doses</a> till recently.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151116/636d08679c7e80680e0a6015jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="448" height="537"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Even as Nepal was in the grip of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-real-cost-of-nepals-second-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">devastating second wave</a> in May-June when there were close to 10,000 new cases daily and up to 250 fatalities a day, there was a complete stop to vaccinations.Nearly 1.4 million Nepalis above 65 are <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/lonely-wait-of-nepals-elderly-for-2nd-doses/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">still waiting for their second doses of Covishield</a>, which they may now get with a grant of 1.6 million doses of AstraZeneca from Japan.In early July, the Americans flew over 1.5 doses of single-shot Johnson &amp; Johnson to Kathmandu under COVAX, which is sending another 350,000 doses by August.At present VeroCell and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/johnson-johnson-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">J&amp;J vaccination</a> drives are running in parallel across Nepal and the vaccine supply chain is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/vaccines-start-trickling-into-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">less constrained</a>.But the decline in the number of new infections and deaths has now stalled. Public health experts have warned <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/vaccines-variants-and-a-third-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">of a third wave</a> and there are threats of newer, more virulent variants as long as a major chunk of the population remains unvaccinated.Covid mortality rose by 50% this week, and urban centres in Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Chitwan, Kaski and Jhapa have recorded the most new cases.On Friday, there were a total of 2,977 new cases across the country, taking the total active infections to 28,518. There were 18 fatalities in the last 24 hours and 1,678 recoveries. So far, 9,679 people have succumbed to Covid-19 in Nepal since the outbreak in January 2020.

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EU to share 200 million vaccines by 2021

<figure><img width="1430" height="872" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111015118/636d06329c7e80680e0a5f4djpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>A group of European, Nepali and Bhutanese personalities have sent an <a href="https://www.petitions.net/vaccines_to_himalayas" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.petitions.net/vaccines_to_himalayas&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625660311215000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEuu109cz_uT0mzvuFORxCpVo-70A">open letter</a> to the European Commission, asking it to allow member states to send surplus vaccines directly to Nepal and Bhutan, by-passing delays through COVAX.
EU member states have millions of doses of excess vaccines, but donations or transfers of these surplus doses are severely constrained by the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/aid-pours-into-nepal-but-where-be-vaccines/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/aid-pours-into-nepal-but-where-be-vaccines/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625660311215000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEOGELikZJFPj6cPmuERuwgR5_tDA">contracts between EU, member states and vaccine manufacturers. </a>
‘We appeal to European Commission to facilitate a mechanism which would allow member states to transfer vaccines bilaterally to other countries or enable member states to target their vaccine contributions multilaterally to the countries where it is most urgently needed,’ the appeal states. 
Millions of people in Nepal and Bhutan are in urgent need of Covid-19 vaccines, especially AstraZeneca, in order to vaccinate their citizens with second doses. Nepal needs 1.4 million doses immediately for people above 65 years who got their first doses, and are still waiting for their second jabs because India banned the export of Covishield AZ. 
Nepal has not even got an additional 1 million doses<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/anger-grows-in-nepal-over-covid-vaccine-delays/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/anger-grows-in-nepal-over-covid-vaccine-delays/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625660311215000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG91MGxSlsuyUqVeeU6-wQZv9jkrg"> it already paid Serum Institute of India for</a>, and needs a further 20 million doses for the rest of its population. Nepal government is buying 4 million doses of VeroCell from SinoPharm in China and the first of the weekly shipments will start arriving on Thursday. 
Similarly, Bhutan has inoculated most of its eligible population of 500,000 with Covishield AZ from Serum Institute India, but only with their first doses. 
Some European countries like Denmark, Norway and the Czech Republic have excess AZ vaccines which they want to send to Nepal and Bhutan directly, but they are constrained by legal agreements to go through the EU and COVAX.
However, WHO’s COVAX facility has also not been able to dispatch promised vaccines to Nepal, Bhutan and other developing countries because it had sourced it from Serum Institute India. COVAX has only sent 835,000 of the 2.26 million it promised before India stopped its export. 
Nepali officials disclosed this week that 1.5 million doses of Johnson &amp; Johnson vaccines from the United States through COVAX would be delivered later this month.
The open letter states: ‘While COVAX is a fair mechanism of vaccine distribution among the low and mid income countries, its prioritisation is not taking into account the receiving country's actual situation amid Covid-19 pandemic, its specific vaccination needs and its vaccine administration preparedness. Ability to direct at least part of the available supplies to the places where the vaccines are currently most needed would overcome these shortcomings.’ 
Despite the urgency of second doses, the COVAX mechanism prioritises countries by population and not by the current pandemic situation. The open letter argues that European countries have stockpiles of vaccines that are nearing expiry, and the European Commission could expedite shipments if it facilitated direct transfer of doses from EU member states.  
It also says that by denying the requests by Bhutan and Nepal for direct vaccine donations, EU is ‘damaging its international image ... and reinforces the EU’s stereotypical image as bureaucratic, inflexible and alienated’. 
It says failure to respond to the urgent requests from Nepal would hurt the EU because other vaccine manufacturing countries ‘are successfully using vaccine diplomacy to increase their soft-power’. 
Signatories of this open letter are known personalities from EU countries, Nepal and Bhutan. This includes members of European Parliament Tomáš Zdechovský and Kateřina Konečná, academics Françoise Pommaret and Karma Phuntsho, former under secretary general of the United Nations<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/hope-hyperbole-and-hypocrisy-of-covax/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/hope-hyperbole-and-hypocrisy-of-covax/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625660311216000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHDSyw9q0gS0XWMLZzZS82mvNgKcg"> Kul Chandra Gautam from Nepal, </a>artists, mountaineers, activists, public health workers and others. 
Other prominent Nepalis include writers Manjushree Thapa and Budhhisagar, as well as former Miss Nepals Malvika Subba and Srinkhala Khatiwoda.
The open letter idea was initiated by a group of Czechs with close ties with the Himalaya who sent an earlier open letter to the Czech Government calling on it to gift its surplus vaccines to Nepal and Bhutan. 
“In subsequent unofficial consultations, it became clear, that Czech Government is not at a liberty to donate or sell its excess doses of AstraZeneca vaccine due to the constraints of the contract between EU, Czechs and the vaccine manufacturer,” explained photographer Michal Thoma, one of those behind the initiative. “It also became apparent that the same situation applies for other EU countries which purchased vaccines through the EU vaccine procurement mechanism.”
So Thoma teamed up with Věra Exnerová, the Nepal Country Director of humanitarian organisation People in Need, mountaineer Jan Tráva and filmmaker Petr Horký to write to the European Commission with other Nepalis and Bhutanese.
On 1 July, Denmark announced that it would donate 250,000 vaccines to Bhutan. However, it is understood that these grants still need to be facilitated by the EU. 
Says Thoma: “The European Commission should stand up to its responsibility so that the EU can fight the pandemic not only within its borders but everywhere else around the world.” 
Those interested can sign the petition at <a href="https://www.petitions.net/vaccines_to_himalayas" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.petitions.net/vaccines_to_himalayas&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625660311216000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE8S4KxCeyaljq2uj4jL7emQuTHgg">https://www.petitions.net/vaccines_to_himalayas</a>.
Full Text of the Open Letter:
European Commission Ms Ursula von der Leyen President of the European Commission 
Open Letter to the European Commission to facilitate direct transfers of excess Covid-19 vaccines from EU member states to the countries with most urgent needs, namely Nepal and Bhutan 
Dear Commission President von der Leyen, 
We would like to bring to your attention the pressing issue of excess vaccines which were purchased by the member states through the centralized EU vaccine acquisition mechanism. Many of these vaccines, such as Vaxzervia produced by AstraZeneca, are not being administered or their use in most EU member states is substantially restricted. As a result, millions of doses are now idly awaiting other allocation. 
Many foreign governments, namely Bhutan and Nepal, asked for donation or purchase of excess vaccines from EU member states. Many public initiatives in EU member states also appealed to their respective governments to facilitate transfer of excess vaccines to Nepal and Bhutan or other mid and low income countries. 
However, EU member states are not in liberty to donate the surplus vaccines directly due to the legal constraints of the contracts between vaccine manufacturers, member states and EU. 
We, an informal group of people with close relationship to the Himalayas, namely Bhutan and Nepal, are nonetheless convinced that these countries, currently affected by regional outbreak of Delta variant, would be best helped by direct vaccine donations. Nepal and Bhutan urgently need almost two millions doses of AstraZeneca vaccine in order to administer second rounds to its citizens. Unfortunately, it has been reported by the media that WHO’s COVAX facility asked Nepal and Bhutan to request doses from other vaccine manufacturers. This may cause delays and complications for rapid response to fight against Covid-19 pandemic in these countries.
We thus appeal to European Commission to facilitate a mechanism which would allow member states to transfer vaccines bilaterally to other countries or enable member states to target their vaccine contributions multilaterally to the countries where it is most urgently needed. 
The reasons for above are as follows: 
<ol><li>While COVAX is a fair mechanism of vaccine distribution among the low and mid income countries, its prioritization is not taking into account the receiving country's actual situation amid Covid-19 pandemic, its specific vaccination needs and its vaccine administration preparedness. Ability to direct at least part of the available</li>
</ol>Prague, 6th July 2021 
supplies to the places where the vaccines are currently most needed would 
overcome these shortcomings. 2. By denying the foreign government requests for direct vaccine donations, EU 
member countries and the EU itself is damaging its international image. At the same time, other vaccine manufacturing countries are successfully using vaccine diplomacy to increase their soft-power and will certainly yield from that in the future. 
<ol start="3"><li>Inability to react positively to the appeals of member states’ citizens to donate vaccines to countries in urgent need reinforces the EU’s stereotypical image as bureaucratic, inflexible and alienated. Allowing member states and its people to decide on how to distribute the excess of vaccines would counteract such feelings among EU citizens.</li>
<li>The USA just recently decided to distribute its excess vaccines partly through COVAX and partly bilaterally according to US foreign policy prioritization. We believe that this is an example to follow.</li>
</ol>On top of that, many EU member states will soon have vast caches of soon to expire vaccines for which there will be no recipients among the EU citizens. In such a case, European Commission should pave the way for the member states for the swift transfers of such expiring doses to the third countries which are ready to receive and administer such supplies in the short time. 
We would like to request you to consider the above points thoroughly. We have full faith and hope in the European Commission's ability to make the right decisions that would be taking into account a global responsibility of the EU as well as the international relations priorities and wishes of EU citizens. 
Yours sincerely, 
Michal Thoma, photographer and writer, Czechia 
Věra Exnerová, Nepal director of the humanitarian organisation People in Need, Czechia 
Jan Tráva, mountaineer, Czechia 
Petr Horký, filmmaker, Czechia 
Kunda Dixit, editor and publisher of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625660311216000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFueSB5zZbscyAgy7DPVj7QFyZZuQ">Nepali Times</a>, Nepal 
Françoise Pommaret, ethnohistorian and Tibetologist, France &amp; Bhutan 
Karma Phuntsho, Loden Foundation, Bhutan and Cambridge University, UK 
Stanislav Tomka, entrepreneur, Slovakia 
Gabriel Točka, Namasté, Society for Nepal-Slovakia Friendship, Slovakia 
Zdeňka Karky, former Czech honorary consul in Nepal, Czechia 
Kul Chandra Gautam, former deputy executive director of UNICEF, Nepal 
Manjushree Thapa, essayist, fiction writer, translator and editor, Nepal &amp; Canada 
Tomáš Zdechovský, Member of European Parliament, Czechia Buddhisagar, writer, poet, columnist, author of Karnali Blues and Firfire, Nepal 
Saurav Dhakal, curator, Story Cycle, Nepal 
Malvika Subba and Shrinkhala Khatiwoda, both Miss Nepal, Nepal
Buddha Basnyat, Himalayan Rescue Association and Mountain Medicine Society of Nepal 
Kateřina Konečná, Member of European Parliament, Czechia 
Šimon Pánek, director of the humanitarian organization People in Need, Czechia

Nepal-Bhutan vaccine appeal to European Commission

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b84379c7e80680e067780jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"/><figcaption>Women with their babies displaying their ‘Nanglo with nutritious diet’. Ever since the first (2013-2017) phase of the Multisector Nutrition Plan (MSNP) gathered steam with support from the EU and in 30 priority districts, there has been visible progress in the health of both mothers and their infants. Photo: ELOISA FERNANDEZ ASTUDILLO, EU DELEGATION TO NEPAL</figcaption></figure>The 71st birthday of the European Union is a special day. Every year on 9 May we celebrate what started as a peace project in 1950, and is now an alliance for our joint future.The 27 member states and their 450 million citizens build our Union every day with their actions and their commitment, making it stronger through challenging times such as the Covid -19 pandemic.From day one, Europe has been guided by the principles of community, solidarity and cooperation. Today, these principles remain as relevant as ever.Europe promotes a sustainable and balanced growth: at home and in our partner countries. The European Union (EU) is the largest donor of development and humanitarian aid in the world and one of its major economic blocks, building the future based on agreed rules. The EU has expanded its presence in 140 nations across the world to build for all children, wherever they are, whoever they are, a shared world of peace, democracy, prosperity and security.The EU advocates and promotes a multilateral rules-based world order. It believes that there are global solutions to global problems. And to solve today’s global problems, the EU is pushing for universal access to Covid-19 vaccines, to strengthen the global recovery from the pandemic, tackle inequalities, modernise global institutions, establish global rules for the new digital technologies, win the race against climate change and restore our relationship with nature.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b843a9c7e80680e067781jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="450"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The EU is dedicated to tackling the challenge of climate change in Europe and in Nepal, because there is no partial solution to climate change. Some 40% of the world’s public climate finance comes from the EU, and climate change is at the heart of our external action and financing.We want to take this opportunity to invite the government and the people of Nepal to engage in a conversation on how we can work together and make a green alliance with Nepal.The EU has seized the challenge of climate change in the context of Covid-19 recovery, and has adopted the ambitious European Green Deal, which is the Union’s internal growth strategy aiming towards a carbon-neutral Europe by 2050.As in Europe, the fight against climate change in Nepal is an opportunity to support, alongside with other international partners, Nepal’s evolution towards a modern, sustainable, resource-efficient and competitive economy. A green recovery is not only about climate change.The pandemic has reminded us of the links between environmental degradation and the impacts on human health. Air needs to stay cleaner, and biodiversity loss needs to be reversed. We have to build back better, for the health and wellbeing of our people.The Covid-19 crisis has put the spotlight on gender bias and its impact on women-owned businesses, on the burden women are facing during the crisis, on their role as essential workers, the increased household load and the increase of gender-based violence.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b843c9c7e80680e067782jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="750" height="423"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>It is more relevant than ever in this context, to shape the coming socio-economic recovery with women at its centre, so that it is socially just, resilient and inclusive for all and support the progress on Nepal’s global commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement.The EU is showing leadership, responsibility and solidarity with those affected by the pandemic. Since the very start of this pandemic, the EU has chosen multilateralism and cooperation over nationalism and competition. We have formed Team Europe, which consists of the EU, its member states and their diplomatic networks, and financial institutions such as the national development banks, the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.Together, Team Europe has contributed €2.47 billion to the COVAX initiative, which delivered already 40.5 million doses of vaccine to more than 100 countries worldwide, including Nepal – truly embodying our European principles of community, solidarity and cooperation.COVAX’s 348,000 doses of vaccines reached Nepal in March, and Team Europe will do its part so that 20% of Nepal’s population is vaccinated for free.The EU in its over 45 years of partnership with Nepal has contributed to the development, reform and democratisation process of the country, as a reliable companion in the implementation of Nepal’s reform strategies. European citizens have given €600 million to Nepal in the last 15 years, and they intend to continue.We were here during hard times, as when the earthquake hit, and we will continue being here in the next decade. The EU as a political partner will make Nepal’s voice stronger in the global and international dialogue and partnerships.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111140/636b843e9c7e80680e067783jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="843" height="843"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Let us celebrate Europe Day and may the friendship between Nepal and the EU and our people grow deeper and stronger. Let us live the principles of community, solidarity and cooperation because we are stronger together.This year’s celebrations, just as last year, is happening amidst the pandemic. In keeping with the social distancing measures, <a href="https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/nepal_en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">online events</a> will replace traditional Europe Day celebrations. We may not be able to share physical spaces, but we can still be together virtually, safely from our homes. Stay safe.Nona Deprez is Ambassador and Head of EU Delegation to Nepal (@EUinNepal).

“EU will stand by Nepal in hard times”

On the occasion of the European Year of Cultural Heritage, the European Union and British Council Nepal are holding a European Union film festival. The first phase of the festival was held in Pokhara last week. In the second phase, films from the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Finland, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Luxembourg and Portugal will be screened at Tourism Board in Kathmandu, 14-16 July.My Pure Land14 July |11:00 AMBased on the true story of a woman in Pakistan who has to defend her land from scheming relatives, after her husband is incarcerated in a bitter family feud. Though their arms and ammunitions are limited, the women take up guns against 200 hired mercenaries in an isolated farmhouse. <img width="1000" height="666" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107121144/6368efd69c7e80680e03599ejpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Berlin Babylon, Germany1:00 PMSet in 1929, this period drama explores a troubled time in World history through the eyes of German police officers. Based on novels by Volker Kutscher, the movie contains characters trying to uncover a web of intrigue, while themselves battling traumatic pasts.  <img width="1000" height="599" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107121144/6368efd99c7e80680e03599fjpeg.jpg" alt="">Teorie Tygra3:15 PMA comedy about an aging man who leaves for adventure and freedom, to get away from his controlling wife. After the death of his father in law, he realises that his mother in law had been controlling him in the same way as his wife controls him, and his daughter controls his son-in-law. <img width="1000" height="562" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107121144/6368efdb9c7e80680e0359a0jpeg.jpg" alt="">Defenders of Riga5:15 PMThe most watched Latvian movie after its independence in 1991, the movie depicts Latvia’s battle to defend Riga in 1919. Novice Latvian riflemen defeat a much larger and better prepared army of Germans left behind in the area, one year after the end of WW1.L’ Odyssee, France15 July |11:00 AMThis biography of French adventurer, biologist, marine conservationist, writer, and filmmaker Jacques Cousteau spans 30 years of his extraordinary life. In his adventurous life he researched the sea and all forms of aquatic life, and helped develop the aqua-lung.Escape from the Moomin Valley1:30 PMThe film shows the life of Tove Jansson, creator of the popular Moomin characters, who considered herself a painter first and foremost. The movie uses many of her paintings to propel the story, as well as accounts from her family and friends.  <img width="1000" height="563" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107121144/6368efde9c7e80680e0359a1jpeg.jpg" alt="">Bauhaus Germany3:00 PMThe movie traces the German art movement called Bauhaus from 1919-1933, that floated the idea of combining art with craft, and combining all forms of art including architecture. The influential art movement has been called the face of the 20th century.Taranta on the Road5:15 PMA man and a woman are thrown together in their journey as illegal immigrants from Africa to Italy. Forced by circumstances, the strangers pretend to be a married couple in the eyes of three musicians who have decided to help them navigate the tricky European police system.A selection of European short films will be shown on 16 July.

European union film festival

India and Pakistan are twins separated at birth. Tensions between them have been at a hair trigger ever since independence and has erupted into full scale conflict at least four times in the past 80 years.
The 22 April terrorist attack in Kashmir that killed 25 Indian tourists and a Nepali citizen, threatens to escalate tension between the two nuclear-armed nations. India has squarely blamed Pakistan for the attacks, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his military “operational freedom” to respond. Pakistan has said it has credible intelligence of an Indian military strike and its officials have promised a “full spectrum” response — a code for a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/thinking-the-thinkable">nuclear retaliation</a>.
For Nepal, the killing of its national in the Pahalgam attack comes as another stark reminder that in conflicts from Afghanistan to Iraq, from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/how-to-agree-an-armistice-in-ukraine">Ukraine</a> to Israel, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/10-nepalis-from-one-town-fighting-in-ukraine">Nepalis are getting caught in the crossfire</a>. The last time full-scale fighting broke out between <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/peacemongers-at-india-pakistan-border">India and Pakistan</a> on Kargil in 1999, at least 22<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/india-s-trial-by-fire-for-soldiers-from-nepal?%27%5C%22="> Nepalis fighting for the Indian Army</a> were killed in action.
Three of Nepal’s immediate neighbours (China, India, Pakistan) have nuclear weapons, and they do not have good relations. With China supplying weapons, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/war-and-warming">missile technology</a> and other support to Pakistan, this triangular friction could set off a regional conflagration.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-022-00573-0" target="_blank">Research at Rutgers University</a> has calculated that even a week-long tactical nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan would throw up so much smoke and debris into the atmosphere that it would block out the sun for years, and lead to a collapse of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/grow-nourish-sustain-together-world-food-day">global food system</a>. This does not take into account the radioactive fallout that prevailing winds would blow up to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lives-on-the-line-in-the-himalaya">the Himalaya</a>, contaminating glaciers that are the sources of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-what-is-left-of-himalayan-rivers">Asia’s main rivers</a>.
The impact of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">climate breakdown </a>on High Asia was already ringing alarm bells about its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/himalayan-icecap-melting-faster-than-thought">shrinking ice cap</a> reducing the dry season flow of water downstream. Water was going to be the next strategic commodity, geopolitical experts warned, and the next wars in Asia would be over water.
That water war is already happening. India retaliated to the Kashmir attack by suspending the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/world/asia/india-pakistan-indus-waters-treaty.html" target="_blank">Indus Waters Treaty</a> of 1960 mediated by the World Bank that has withstood at least three wars between India and Pakistan. The treaty gives India control over the three eastern tributaries of the Indus (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beas_River" target="_blank">Beas</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_River" target="_blank">Ravi</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutlej" target="_blank">Sutlej</a>), while Pakistan got water from the Indus and two of its western tributaries (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_River" target="_blank">Indus</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenab_River" target="_blank">Chenab</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jhelum_River" target="_blank">Jhelum</a>.
Pakistan was assured of 70% of the annual flow, and India could use a reasonable amount of water for<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15231"> irrigation and hydropower</a>. &nbsp;Within days of its threat, India stopped water flowing down to Pakistan from the Chenab river and is reportedly preparing to do the same on the Jhelum.
The sabre-rattling has reached a crescendo. Besides threats and counter-threats there are also symbolic drills, with the Indian Air Force practicing landing on an expressway in Uttar Pradesh by its Rafale, Su-30 and Jaguar fighter jets to demonstrate ‘operational readiness’. In response Pakistan test-fired its Abdali ballistic missile that can carry a nuclear warhead and has a range of 450km.&nbsp;
The danger is that with ultra-nationalist rhetoric and the beating the war drums by both sides, India’s government and Pakistan’s military may have to ‘do something’ to appease domestic public opinion. But any tactical strike, an artillery exchange, or territorial incursion could quickly escalate out of control.
Expecting an Indian retaliation for the Pahalgam killings, Pakistan is using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/interfaith-collaboration-for-nuclear-disarmament"> nuclear deterrence </a>and warning of “catastrophic consequences”. The two neighbours came close to a nuclear exchange in 2019 after an attack on the Indian military in Kashmir, and prompt international intervention led by the United States cooled tensions.&nbsp;
This time, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/trump-shock-wave-hits-nepal">Trump administration</a> is too distracted and not as engaged. Pakistan has denied it was responsible for the terrorist attack and called on Washington to stop a possible Indian retaliation. India and Pakistan have stopped overflights by each other’s airlines, and some international carriers have even stopped flying over Pakistan fearing an air war.
Washington, Beijing, the UN and the EU have all urged restraint. Iran, which has good relations with both India and Pakistan has sent its foreign minister to urge both countries not to go into a tit-for-tat war. Iran has its own nuclear flashpoint to worry about with tensions in Israel, &nbsp;Yemen and Syria.
India and Pakistan both share similar problems of joblessness, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/why-nepal-s-poverty-rate-is-stuck">poverty </a>and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/climate-change-new-threat-to-nepal-s-rhinos">environmental threats</a>. Neither side needs the threat of a senseless war, and we in the neighbourhood do not need it either.&nbsp;
Kunda Dixit
This Editorial is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.

Nukes in the neighbourhood

The streets of Patan are alive this month with lavender jacaranda trees under rain-washed skies as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-red-god-rises-again-in-patan">the chariot of Rato Matsyendranath</a> is pulled across town. This is the festival of the rain god, and inevitably the heavens opened up and pre-monsoon showers pelted the chariot as it started being pulled in Pulchok last week. Thousands of devotees, onlookers and the chariot procession organisers thronged the streets on the first day last week. The rhythmic cymbals and drums exuded a vibrant energy as the enormous four wheels turned and the chariot lurched.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025051007050_81df97744db16f732a419dc1f1579d235ce3df37642b078f50b83bd4bd026688.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025051007050_81df97744db16f732a419dc1f1579d235ce3df37642b078f50b83bd4bd026688" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1503" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  The<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Red-rain-god,3141"> red rain god</a> has Hindu and Buddhist antecedents, alternatively called Bungadya and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-gravity-defying-chariot-festival"> Karunamaya</a> — reflecting Kathmandu Valley’s syncretic mixture of the two religions.&nbsp; “Bungadya is a profoundly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/12-full-opinion/marketing-the-intangible">intangible form of heritage</a>,” explains heritage expert Monalisa Maharjan. “It embodies traditional knowledge,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/reviving-nepal-s-craft"> artisanal skills passed down through generations</a>. Local communities and specific families have specified roles in being custodians of the heritage, ensuring their survival over the centuries.” There are many legends and stories about this annual tradition. Lichhavi king Narendra Dev is supposed to have brought Rato Matsyendranath from Assam to Kathmandu Valley to convince Guru Gorakhnath to lift a spell that created a two-year drought in Kathmandu.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250510050520_347a9a398f8a9abc4a7fb4e2774fde8264cccbdce8bdab23851ab3f0e73c3e8a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250510050520_347a9a398f8a9abc4a7fb4e2774fde8264cccbdce8bdab23851ab3f0e73c3e8a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1503" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  Matsyendranath was Gorakhnath’s mentor, and upon seeing him, the serpents were released, unleashing the rains. The chariot festival honours the return of this life-giving rain. The deity is seen as an icon for thriving agriculture, t<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/before-the-next-monsoon">he arrival of monsoon</a> showers, and the welfare of the community. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-reign-of-the-god-of-rain">The reign of the god of rain</a>, Vidhu Prakash Kayastha Till this day, the Rato Matsyendranath festival is no ordinary celebration. Patan does not sleep for a month as the chariot is pulled through various neighbourhoods. It unfolds at a state level with the president (formerly the king) attending the climax of the Bhoto Jatra in Jawalakhel later this month.&nbsp; The intergenerational transmission of tradition is unique in the world, and the reason the festival is one of the most vibrant cultural expressions that thrives despite inroads of modernity. The other unique aspect is that it is a transnational festival, binding Patan with Guwahati in the Indian state of Assam.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025051005058_8bc685ada13045d863b28e3eed91c931da2b510714586af6fd7eb5d1e298a24a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="2025051005058_8bc685ada13045d863b28e3eed91c931da2b510714586af6fd7eb5d1e298a24a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1503" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  “Unlike Nepal, where the deity commands grandeur and devotion, many in Assam are unaware of Rato Matsyendranath,” says Khagen Sharma of Gauhati University, which convened <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-assam-connection-revived">a symposium in February in Guwahati on the rain god</a>. Attending was a delegation led by Lalitpur Mayor Chiribabu Maharjan, organisers of the festival, and builders of the chariot. After the symposium, a committee was formed to explore and revive the tradition in Assam as well. Although the team had planned to visit Nepal this month, logistical challenges delayed the trip. Still, there are plans to build a Guru Matsyendranath statue in Assam to reestablish regular worship practices in the Guwahati shrine.&nbsp; The vines used to build the chariot in Patan are sourced from the jungles of Assam. But Sharma notes that in recent years unclear regulations have blocked the official import of the vines, although they are still brought to Nepal informally. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/makers-of-machhindranath,2204">chariot making</a> has also had a taste of modernisation in recent times. In the past, even a single nail or piece of steel was avoided. But over time, the wooden structure, particularly the shaft between the wheels, has been replaced with bronze. When that too proved unstable, metal clamps were introduced, which have become a pragmatic compromise.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250510050524_b2a819a5791612f14c81d30fc393dbd3f99f0c64b90a9110e8b0855d944bfa93.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250510050524_b2a819a5791612f14c81d30fc393dbd3f99f0c64b90a9110e8b0855d944bfa93" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="998" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  Another welcome change is the focus on safety. Builders climbing the chariot’s tower now wear harnesses and there are efforts in crowd control. The most visible change in recent years has been the involvement of Patan’s enthusiastic youth in the festival — the tradition is now passing to a new generation. Says Matsyendranath expert Vidhu Kayastha: “There is more energy, the young people in red t-shirts this year were very organised, these modern touches aren’t diluting our culture, they’re keeping it alive in new forms.” He adds, “We are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/searching-for-a-homeland-away-from-home">reconnecting with our roots</a>, we have more resources, more awareness than ever before. We must not be swept away by western values that may not serve us, and in some ways, cause more harm than good. We must revive our own culture.”&nbsp;

Divine chariot

In 2025, two seemingly disconnected acts of violence shattered the illusion of stability in the region. In March, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/16f7f947-1e96-4206-9844-891378adc683" target="_blank">militants hijacked a passenger train</a> near the Bolan Pass in Balochistan, executing soldiers in cold blood. A month later, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/world/asia/kashmir-terrorist-attack.html" target="_blank">gunmen in Kashmir’s</a> Pahalgam Valley massacred tourists. 
In both Islamabad and New Delhi, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/25/were-cursed-kashmiris-under-attack-across-india-after-pahalgam-killings" target="_blank">the reaction was reflexive:</a> condemn the violence, <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2025/04/22/india-and-pakistan-could-come-to-blows-over-kashmir" target="_blank">blame external enemies</a>, declare the situation contained. But South Asia’s leaders are not fighting terrorists alone. They are fighting the consequences of their own betrayals.
Across <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26272897" target="_blank">Balochistan</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11693674" target="_blank">Kashmir</a>, <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asia/india/346-finding-way-out-festering-conflict-indias-manipur" target="_blank">Manipur</a>, and beyond, decades of <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/projects/enforced-disappearance-in-south-asia/" target="_blank">enforced disappearances</a>, broken promises, and brute militarisation have hollowed out the social contracts meant to hold these nations together. The grievances that drove rebellions from the 1940s through the 1990s – demands for dignity, recognition, and political agency – were never meaningfully addressed. They were buried beneath asphalt and propaganda, paved over by development projects and security checkpoints.
States may claim victory. But their victories are mirages, dissolving the moment anyone looks too closely. South Asia’s unfinished wars are not relics of a violent past. They are live ammunition, loaded into the future.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/24/he-only-wanted-revenge-the-bloody-insurgency-in-balochistan-gaining-lethal-momentum" target="_blank">Balochistan</a> has been at war with Pakistan for most of its modern history. Rich in gas, minerals, and coastline, the province has been plundered for decades under the language of national development. 
Projects like the <a href="https://eastasiaforum.org/2020/11/26/pakistans-three-evils-cpec-and-good-governance/" target="_blank">China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)</a> promise progress but deliver exclusion: minerals are mined, ports are secured, but Baloch homes are raided. 
The insurgency endures not because of foreign conspiracies, as Islamabad endlessly insists, but because the Pakistani state remains incapable of seeing its <a href="https://thebalochistanpost.net/2025/01/enforced-disappearances-in-balochistan-in-december-2024-tbp-report/" target="_blank">Baloch citizens</a> as anything other than a security problem to be managed.
In <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ranisingh/2016/07/12/kashmir-in-the-worlds-most-militarized-zone-violence-after-years-of-comparative-calm/" target="_blank">Kashmir</a>, the Indian government claims to have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/08/world/asia/kashmir-village-defense-committees.html" target="_blank">“normalised” the valley</a> after revoking its autonomy in 2019. It <a href="https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/conflict-between-india-and-pakistan" target="_blank">looks a lot like occupation</a>. Soldiers outnumber local leaders, dissent is criminalised, internet shutdowns suffocate public life. Tourism campaigns and investment summits cannot erase a generation raised under curfew and surveillance.
<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-66260730" target="_blank">Manipur’s descent into ethnic bloodshed</a> in 2023 exposed another fault line Delhi prefers to ignore. Long-simmering tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities erupted into violence that shattered any illusions of northeastern integration. The central government’s delayed, politicised response made clear what many Manipuris had always suspected: they are citizens of India only when convenient.
Even the <a href="https://msf.org.au/rohingya-worlds-largest-stateless-population" target="_blank">Rohingya, stateless and exiled from Myanmar</a>, find themselves entangled in South Asia’s ethnonationalist calculus. Fleeing genocide, they are criminalised anew in Bangladesh and India – trapped between the countries that reject them and the memories that refuse to let them go.
South Asia’s states have excelled at suppressing rebellion. But failed at extinguishing the reasons rebellions rise in the first place. And the wars South Asia tries to forget at home have found new life abroad.
Across <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-17/modis-indian-government-accused-of-spying-silencing-critics/103974414" target="_blank">Canada, Australia, Britain, and the United States</a>, diasporic communities have become memory-keepers and, increasingly, <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/khalistan-supporters-hold-protest-outside-indian-consulate-in-vancouver-123092600087_1.html" target="_blank">the agitators</a> for the struggles their home states would rather erase.
Khalistan flags fly outside Indian consulates in Vancouver and <a href="https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/perturbed-over-waving-of-khalistani-flags-at-an-event-in-melbourne-india-warns-australia-of-khalistan-separatists-and-their-links-with-terror-groups-458320/" target="_blank">Melbourne</a>. Tamil activists march through London, demanding accountability for the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/19/grim-reminder-sri-lankas-tamils-mark-15-years-since-end-of-civil-war" target="_blank">massacres in Mullivaikkal</a>. Kashmiri protests in Washington and New York refuse to let India’s crackdown slip into diplomatic amnesia.
For host countries, these movements pose uncomfortable questions. Freedom of expression collides with fears of extremism. Clashes erupt between communities carrying wounds that their new homelands.
Meanwhile, South Asian states pursue their adversaries across borders. India faces allegations of <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/canada-says-india-home-minister-ordered-campaign-against-sikh-activist-rcna177972" target="_blank">targeting Sikh activists for assassination in Canada</a> and the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/10/27/g-s1-29561/sikh-separatist-assassination-india" target="_blank">United States</a>. Pakistan continues to court Kashmiri separatists abroad while crushing Baloch dissent at home. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sri-lanka-tamils-civil-war-dead-5b372b0bba567837c5a4d94250040e7d" target="_blank">Sri Lanka</a> lobbies furiously to brand Tamil diaspora organisations as fronts for terrorism, even as it stonewalls investigations into its own wartime atrocities.
The old insurgencies have not been defeated. They have been globalised. South Asia’s governments have long mistaken silence for stability.
In Punjab, India broke the back of the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/06/india/india-canada-sikh-khalistan-analysis-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank">Khalistan insurgency</a> through brute force. The fields grew green again, the trains ran on time. But the wounds were never closed, the <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/why-is-indias-khalistan-separatist-movement-on-the-rise/a-65081729" target="_blank">movement’s heart beats</a> not in Amritsar but in Brampton and Surrey.
In Sri Lanka, the <a href="https://www.academia.edu/4738983/The_Man_Who_Destroyed_Eelam" target="_blank">military crushed the Tamil Tigers</a> with <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/01/17/death-of-the-tiger" target="_blank">overwhelming brutality in 2009</a>. <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3264148/we-want-our-children-back-sri-lankan-families-still-demanding-justice-their-missing-loved-ones" target="_blank">Tamil families still search for their missing</a>, still mourn their dead – and still organise across the diaspora for justice that remains undelivered.
In Kashmir, Delhi boasts of new <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/2/4/kashmir-is-bleeding-its-economy" target="_blank">highways and investment corridors</a>, showcasing the region as a trophy of unity. But when the visitors leave and the cameras are packed away, <a href="https://harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-134/from-domicile-to-dominion-indias-settler-colonial-agenda-in-kashmir/" target="_blank">the checkpoints, the raids, and the quiet despair remain.</a>
Victory parades fade. Grievance endures. Suppressing insurgency may end battles. It does not end the ideas that fueled them. In a region where <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/world/asia/kashmir-attack-india-pakistan.html" target="_blank">history is rarely past</a>, and memory is rarely voluntary, states that rule through repression are only ever buying time. And often, not very much.
South Asia’s unfinished wars are not accidents. They are the inevitable consequences of states that confuse conquest with consent, and erasure with reconciliation. They cannot legislate memory out of existence.
Every <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c15qyyzz89lo" target="_blank">disappeared son in Balochistan</a>, every <a href="https://medium.com/the-wvoice/the-half-widows-in-kashmir-fef80c6b88e9" target="_blank">half-widow in Kashmir</a>, every <a href="https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/focus/rohingya-refugee-crisis" target="_blank">refugee child born stateless in a Rohingya camp</a> carries forward the memory of betrayal – a memory that outlives soldiers, politicians, and peace accords alike.
The region’s future will not be decided by GDP figures or infrastructure projects alone. It will be decided by whether its governments can summon the political courage to face the truths they have long suppressed – or whether they will continue down a path <a href="https://theconversation.com/india-is-using-the-g20-summit-to-further-its-settler-colonial-ambitions-in-kashmir-205166" target="_blank">where forgetting is demanded</a>, and rebellion becomes inevitable.
Shyam Tekwani is a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii. This <a href="https://dkiapcss.edu/nexus_articles/ghosts-at-the-border-south-asias-unfinished-wars/" target="_blank">article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://dkiapcss.edu/security-nexus/" target="_blank">DKI APCSS Security Nexus.</a> The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of DKI APCSS, the Department of Defense, or the US Government. The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) of the linked websites, or the information, products, or services contained therein. DoD does not exercise any editorial, security, or other control over the information you may find at these sites.

Balochistan to Kashmir

Most Nepalis thought they had seen the last of it after <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/11-56-25-april-2015-wkc9q2an">the 25 April 7.8 magnitude </a>earthquake ten years ago. But the Himalaya had more surprises in store. On 12 May, another 7.3 magnitude tremor that some said was an aftershock, but was strong enough to itself be a major earthquake, struck Dolakha.&nbsp; Not many people had heard of Singati till then — a cluster of houses by the Tama Kosi River along a narrow gorge that is the roadhead to Rolwaling Valley.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_57b6e316656851f71eca56ca6f98d9bbcc820c1a00d62af3c990725b4361244d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250508110520_57b6e316656851f71eca56ca6f98d9bbcc820c1a00d62af3c990725b4361244d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_016534fb2b6a79957402281cda768efb83a146786377e39e11df3e251d37159e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250508110520_016534fb2b6a79957402281cda768efb83a146786377e39e11df3e251d37159e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>  It was here that dozens were killed on 25 April in the first earthquake. Hundreds of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Singati-rising-from-rubble-rebuilding,3703">Singati survivors</a> had lined up for food and relief supplies in the morning of 12 May when the second earthquake triggered a rock slide that buried a nearby camp. At least 50 people were killed. &nbsp; Three hours later, a US Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom helicopter landed in a nearby cornfield to pick up the wounded, and flew off. The aircraft lost contact with air traffic control in Kathmandu and its wreckage was located high on Kalinchok four days later. Six American servicemen, two Nepal Army soldiers, and five wounded civilians from Singati were killed. Today, Singati bears little physical scar of the multiple tragedies that struck the town ten years ago. Most <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/bungamati-builds-back">houses have been rebuilt</a> as urban-style concrete structures, and Singati has become an economic hub on the road leading up to several hydropower plants and a<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/off-the-beaten-trek-in-nepal"> popular trekking destination</a>.&nbsp; The town looks less like a village and more like a suburb of the Dolakha district headquarter of Charikot, 47km away.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_196f341d1df1403ba133e5dfeb837eec20d7cbcb4c8c56b17cc5598810de5df2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250508110520_196f341d1df1403ba133e5dfeb837eec20d7cbcb4c8c56b17cc5598810de5df2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110524_ae66c4a92430f67db51b5e11e017059eedfbac4cb18c8e073f2a50cca1fe904e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250508110524_ae66c4a92430f67db51b5e11e017059eedfbac4cb18c8e073f2a50cca1fe904e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>  “The demand for construction material, cement, iron rods and bricks peaked after the earthquakes,” says Suresh Khadka, who owns a hardware business here and now supplies material to the 456MW Upper Tama Kosi hydropower project that is undergoing repairs after it was damaged by a landslide last year. The demand for cement boomed since most residents believe, not necessarily correctly, that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-a-disastrous-state">cement houses are safer</a>. Although Khadka did well selling construction material after the earthquake, he worries that most new structures do not follow seismic-resistant building codes.&nbsp; The construction boom financed by bank loans has in turn forced many from Singati to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/making-overseas-migration-better">migrate overseas for work</a> so they can service their debt.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110524_50caa4530bd5ff9120cf7ab70a62173846d337ef448ff8bac339f3faa375a9e2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250508110524_50caa4530bd5ff9120cf7ab70a62173846d337ef448ff8bac339f3faa375a9e2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Suresh Khadka</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_ef8b7d3993fc3b5df852bbf952feb3fbabc96d6883b0d5eb74ee5c60f4123b83.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250508110520_ef8b7d3993fc3b5df852bbf952feb3fbabc96d6883b0d5eb74ee5c60f4123b83" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Phu Doma Sherpa (right)</figcaption> </figure>  “My family had no choice but to borrow money to rebuild our home since the government compensation was not enough, and ten years later we are still paying off the loan,” says Phu Doma Sherpa, 60. Because of the shortage of qualified masons and proper seismic engineering, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/structural-problems">many of the buildings are of questionable building standards </a>and the traditional architecture has been abandoned, admits Kul Bahadur Budathoki, deputy chair of the municipality. “But these buildings were more expensive than what the government grants could cover, many people here are heavily in debt and the men have <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/every-day-is-closer-to-pay-day">migrated to the Gulf to pay their loans</a>,” Budathoki says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_32f89e97b7e757fc9286c0bbb671f48ea8d4468e9634fa646d7247c650ad8480.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20250508110520_32f89e97b7e757fc9286c0bbb671f48ea8d4468e9634fa646d7247c650ad8480" data-rendition-name="original" width="1501" height="1079" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Kul Bahadur Budathoki</figcaption> </figure>  Singati is in a multi-hazard zone. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Singati,3091">12 May 2015 earthquake </a>could have led to the collapse of Nepal’s largest glacial lake, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/stairway-to-heaven">Tso Rolpa</a>, upstream. Due to global warming, the glacier has turned into an expanding lake 3.5km long, and its collapse would have unleashed a catastrophic Himalayan tsunami down the Tama Kosi Valley, with Singati directly in its path. Singati has literally risen from the ashes of 2015, with its residents beginning to recover from the trauma and financial toll. But it is not out of danger as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">climate breakdown </a>magnifies the risk from future earthquakes.

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