https://www.youtube.com/embed/SCmfLUwnPKM?fbclid=IwAR3h1k_eTwFhVoE8SrMAO8kKO15azOH-_Kmr4uQSrfQ0WUpu3iDAPPajf0IA domesticated elephant used for safaris in Chitwan National Park which was being illegally transported to India in contravention of the <a href="https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/17/WorkingDocs/E-CoP17-57-01-A5.pdf">CITES</a> (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) is being tracked by Nepal police at the border. The 50-year-old female elephant belongs to Jungle World Resort, and is named ‘Ashakali’. A video of the truck showed its number to be: ना ४ ख २८२७.  Wildlife activists say more elephants have been sold to buyers in India for up to Rs9 million each since the pandemic began, and safari tourism in Nepal’s national parks collapsed. Jungle World Resort director Tokraj Khatiwada admitted he had rented Ashakali from India at Rs80,000 a month, and since there had been no tourists upkeep of the animals was difficult and he was sending her back. “You are now all raising the issue of elephant rights protection, but did any of you help feed these animals during the lockdown? The national park did not help either,” Khatiwada told us on the phone from Sauraha. He warned: “We were allowed to send back two rented elephants to India before this, so it is legal. If we are stopped, there will be an agitation here." <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/set-the-elephants-free/">Set the elephants free</a>, Michelle Szydlowski According to CITES, endangered wild elephants cannot be domesticated, and it cannot be traded across borders. Many of the 216 captive elephants used in Nepal’s tourism industry are imported from India in contravention of Indian law. It is an irony that some of these elephants are now being sold back to India.  Hari Acharya, spokesperson of the <a href="https://tmmnepal.com/package-details/department-of-national-parks-and-wildlife-conservation">Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation</a> says, “No one has filed for an application on transporting Ashakali, so the process is illegal. We have written to the authorities at the border to increase vigilance.” <img width="800" height="401" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111156/636cd8f49c7e80680e092e6fjpeg.jpg" alt=""/>According to the convention, the CITES Management Authority in both countries have to give permission for the cross border transport for endangered species. For example, 16 captive elephants were brought from India in 1986, and 4 Nepali rhinos sent to India in exchange.CITES does not allow the export of captive elephants for commercial purposes. Sources said the elephants were being sold to a new zoo in Gujarat. Up to five elephants have been sent to India since the lockdown went into effect last March, sources said.“We think the collapse of tourism due to the pandemic has made it expensive for private owners of captive elephants to maintain them which is why they have an excuse to sell them to India,” said one conservationist at Chitwan National Park who did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.After finding out about the illegal trade, the group Pro Public this week wrote to officials in India and Nepal, including the prime minister’s office in the two countries, embassies, and Interpol to stop the transport of captive elephants from Nepal to India.CITES rules say that captive elephants need to be registered, but the national park says very few of the domesticated <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/speaking-for-elephants/">elephants</a> in Nepal are registered. Nepal stopped capturing wild elephants to domesticate them 40 years ago. There are an estimated 200-227 wild elephants in Nepal.<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/nepal-elephant-chitwan-national-park,762">Working elephants rise up, you have nothing to lose but chains</a>, Lucia De Vries <img width="326" height="496" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111156/636cd8f69c7e80680e092e70jpeg.jpg" alt="">Association Moey first posted information about the elephants being transported to India, which was later shared by Wildlife activist Shristi Singh Shrestha on her Facebook page one Thursday morning. She says safari lodges in Sauraha regard elephants only as profit generators, and she is working with other groups to let them roam in nature. Sanjeevani Yonjan of Wildlife Conservation Nepal (WCN) who has conducted sting operations to apprehend wildlife traffickers, says: “It is not just trans-border transport of elephants that is illegal, it is also illegal to domesticate wild elephants. Lodge owners cannot say they don’t want to follow the law.”Praveen Pokhrel of Rupendehi Police used to be head of Wildlife Crime Division of Nepal’s Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), and says that he had received information about the elephants being transported, and was acting on it. But deputy conservationist at Chitwan National Park Shiva Gaire says he only heard about captive elephants being transported to India on Thursday. “We warned lodge owners that it is illegal to do this, and told them that they may face action,” he added.Wildlife crime researcher Kumar Poudel says owners of captive elephants had been given one year to register their animals, but did not. He adds: “They are openly selling elephants across the border illegally, this has to be stopped immediately.”

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Police track India-Nepal elephant trafficking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_v2WvLvdGE&amp;feature=youtu.beThe discovery that the 12th-century deity stolen from his neighbourhood had turned up in Dallas, Texas, was a bittersweet one for Bhai Raja Shrestha.The statue of Laxmi-Narayan was stolen 30 years ago at a time when Kathmandu Valley was being plundered of gods and goddesses by western art collectors. It was recently tracked to the Dallas Museum of Art by American artist <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joy Lynn Davis</a>, who has documented Kathmandu’s missing deities through striking works of visual art.The 700-year-old stone figure was once an integral part of the intangible heritage of Patan’s Patkutole neighbourhood. After it was stolen in 1984 Shrestha says the community also started falling apart.Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Nepal-needs-to-be-prepared-for-the-return-of-stolen-religious-figures,986">Back where they belong</a>, Bhrikuti Rai<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b75219c7e80680e0623d3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="787"/><figcaption>The original 12th-century Laxmi-Narayan stolen in 1984. Photo : LAIN SINGH BANGDEL In Sotheby's catalogue in 1990. Photo : ERIN L. THOMPSON The deity in the Dallas Art Museum in 2014. Photo : ERIN L. THOMPSON</figcaption></figure>“We are glad our god has been located in Dallas. We will try our best to bring it back, but we must also ask ourselves whether we are up to taking good care of it,” says Shrestha, 77, a social activist in the Patkutole neighbourhood of Patan.Shrestha recalls that the theft was a heart-wrenching moment for the community and especially for those for whom Laxmi-Narayan is a patron deity. “People used to come in large numbers every day to this temple for puja, but after the god was stolen this changed. Now it is a whole generation later and the temple has suffered from the god’s absence.”Even though the figure was replaced by a poor replica in 1993, and the temple itself renovated in 2006, the neighbourhood does not attach the same importance to it. “God is god regardless of it being a replica or not. However, it does pinch you that the original piece is among foreigners who could not care less about its religious significance,” Shrestha adds.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b75249c7e80680e0623d4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>After it was stolen, the rare androgynous composite deity was sold by the Sotheby's auction house (it was sighted in the Sotheby's catalogue in 1990), and it was later loaned for 30 years to the Dallas Museum of Art by a collector named David T Owsley. After the figure on display at the museum was found to be the stolen Laxmi-Narayan, this was pointed out to the museum by art crime scholar <a href="https://hyperallergic.com/author/erin-l-thompson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Erin L. Thompson</a>. In response, the <a href="https://twitter.com/DallasMuseumArt/status/1197212359003197441" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dallas Museum of Art tweeted on 20 November 2019</a>, “The Dallas Museum of Art takes these matters very seriously and we are currently looking into this.” The deity has since been removed from display.The figure, also called Vasudeva-Kamala, is one of those many Kathmandu Valley deities that find themselves in museums or at <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987" target="_blank" rel="noopener">auction houses</a> in Europe and the United States. Although the government abides by UNESCO’s international laws on import and export of cultural properties, and has its own Ancient Monument Preservation Act, the process of repatriating stolen antiquities is legally cumbersome.“The Dallas Museum has to return our cultural property. It is proven that it’s ours, and we are working to get it back,” acting director of the Department of Archaeology Damodar Gautam, told Nepali Times. He admitted the process is tedious: his department has to write to the Ministry of Culture, which will forward the request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the US Embassy and the Nepal Embassy in Washington, DC, the last of which will take it up with the US government and finally the Dallas Museum of Art.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b75289c7e80680e0623d5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1083"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Department of Archaeology has a scanty inventory of stolen deities, and does not keep a record of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5021#.Xkz2vhoza70" target="_blank" rel="noopener">artifacts that have been returned</a>. Its records of the latter say merely that 32 stolen <a href="archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2017/06/18/religious-figures-returned/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">figures have been returned since 1996</a> (mainly from <a href="archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2017/06/18/religious-figures-returned/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">museums in Europe</a>), from the thousands that have been trafficked by art thieves.The government’s responsibility to protect Nepal’s living heritage is being filled by people like Roshan Mishra, curator of the Taragaon Museum, who has documented many of the stolen artefacts on his website, <a href="https://globalnepalimuseum.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Global Nepali Museums</a>. Mishra’s data shows that most of the smuggling has occurred since the 1970s, and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Nepal-needs-to-be-prepared-for-the-return-of-stolen-religious-figures,986" target="_blank" rel="noopener">41 museums all over the world</a> exhibit stolen stone, bronze, terracotta and wooden religious artefacts from Kathmandu. These institutions include the <a href="http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O139371/relief-panel-relief-panel-unknown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Victoria and Albert Museum</a> in London, the <a href="https://denverartmuseum.org/collections/asian-art" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Denver Art Museum</a> and the <a href="http://collection.sdmart.org/Obj11073?sid=349&amp;x=5515&amp;sort=9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">San Diego Museum</a> in the United States, the <a href="https://www.rom.on.ca/en/exhibitions-galleries/galleries/world-cultures/sir-christopher-ondaatje-south-asian-gallery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Royal Ontario Museum</a> in Canada and many others.“Our idols are auctioned for millions of dollars abroad and we cannot do much about it because of the long and slow bureaucratic process. The government needs to be more resolute in getting them back, otherwise they will remain abroad,” says Mishra.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=2710#.Xk59PjIzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Here today, in Europe tomorrow</a>, Janki Gurung<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b752b9c7e80680e0623d6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="754"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In 2010, a bronze Garuda water spout, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2010/08/17/good-job/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a centrepiece of the Sundari Chok</a> in Patan Darbar Square, was stolen. It was <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2011/09/10/stolen-treasure-found-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">retrieved by police a year later</a> in Kathmandu. Currently, the exquisitely carved 120-year-old figure is on display at the National Museum at Chhauni. A replica bronze created by artisans at the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17399#.Xk55RYjBXIV" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust</a> (KVPT) is now at Sundari Chok.“It was essential that we come up with a solution rather than wait for the statue to return to the original place,” explains <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/learning-from-nepals-past-to-rebuild-its-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rohit Ranjitkar, director of KVPT</a>, who says that putting the original back would have risked another theft.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2010/08/17/good-job/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Good job</a>, Kunda Dixit<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=11342#.Xk58uDIzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Return of the gods</a>, Sujata TuladharLain Singh Bangdel’s <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5250#.Xk55d4jBXIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stolen Images of Nepal</a> (1989) and Jürgen Schick’s <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/The-Gods-are-Leaving-Country/dp/9748299201" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Gods are Leaving the Country</a> (2006), both written by art historians, document the stolen artefacts, and they catalogue what Nepal has lost in past decades. Many of the pieces have been traced to western museums and collectors.Whether or not to replace the originals with replicas, and where the originals should be housed if they are returned from museums and art collectors abroad, are hotly debated subjects. Some temples in Kathmandu now have replicas, and original deities are protected by iron grills, or are bolted to walls.Nepal is not the only country that is putting pressure on western museums to return antiquities. Greece and the British museum are haggling over the Parthenon Marbles stolen by Lord Eglin in 1806.The British Museum is also under pressure to return the stolen Benin bronzes from Nigeria, but is saying that the artifacts are too “fragile and delicate” to travel.<h2>A museum of copies</h2><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101136/636b752e9c7e80680e0623d7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1382"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Bhaktapur architect <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/learning-from-nepals-past-to-rebuild-its-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rabindra Puri</a> has come up with another way of documenting Nepal’s stolen deities. As part of his Mission Panauti Project, he is working on the Museum of Stolen Arts, set to open in 2022 <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/ancient-panautis-french-connection/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in this town that has lost many of its religious objects</a>.The museum will initially have 50 stone replicas of sacred statuary that have been trafficked abroad. So far, artisans have hewn 36 of them.“All the replicas in our display are of stolen idols that are Nepal’s property and we have clear evidence of this. We need to raise awareness of the theft. It is public pressure and not the lengthy government process that will help us retrieve our heritage,”Puri says. Puri hopes that the museum will raise awareness among Nepalis and build pressure on western museums and auction houses to return statuary to Nepal.While appreciative of the effort, KVPT’s Rohit Ranjitkar is not entirely convinced that a museum of replicas will help in the struggle for repatriation. He says: “It is easy to copy them, but there is little chance that international museums will agree to repatriate our deities. Also, even if they are returned, how will we preserve them in their original location?”If the security of returned statuary cannot be guaranteed in their original locations, returned deities will find themselves in Nepali museums. Ranjitkar sees little value in this.

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Replicating Nepal’s stolen gods

Climber, expedition leader and later a supplier of bottled oxygen to Himalayan mountaineers, Henry Barclay Todd died on 3 November 2025 in his favourite place on earth, Kathmandu.&nbsp;
Todd was larger than life, a metaphor often used, yet it could not be more fitting. Standing nearly 2m tall, and possessing an unshakeable will, he lived life on a grand scale, both in body and spirit.&nbsp;
Todd was a pillar in the Himalayan climbing community, supporting many mountaineers across Nepal and Pakistan, making it possible for them to fulfil the dream of standing on the world’s highest peaks. He believed deeply in the strength, skill, and potential of the Sherpa people, and offered them opportunities that might otherwise have remained out of reach.&nbsp;
“Thank you, Henry. Your trust changed my life. Rest in peace, my leader, my teacher, my friend,” said Dorjee Gyelzen Sherpa in his tribute.
Born in 1945 to Royal Air Force officer Henry Todd and May Todd of the Women’s Royal Air Force, Henry spent his early years in Singapore. He led a lively childhood with his two brothers, far removed from the mountains that would later define his path.&nbsp;
A gifted swimmer like his father, Henry never pursued the sport professionally. Instead, after returning to Dundee as a teenager and attending seven different schools, he set off for London, where he began working for an insurance company before finding his true calling in adventure.
Henry Todd first came to Nepal in the mid-1980s and made his first attempt on Ama Dablam in 1987, an expedition that marked the beginning of an extraordinary and colourful climbing career. <a href="https://www.himalayandatabase.com/" target="_blank">The Himalayan Database</a> lists 61 expeditions that he led in Nepal alone — there were more in the Karakoram, Argentina and the Alps.&nbsp;
But Todd would joyfully say that a few hard Scottish ascents held a more personal meaning to him than even the greatest Himalayan summits.
Over the decades, he crossed paths with many legendary climbers like Anatoli Boukreev, Jerzy Kukuczka, Doug Scott and Chris Bonington as well as celebrities including members of Pink Floyd and Nobel Prize laureates whom he befriended.&nbsp;
He had a gift to never name-drop, but would simply mention that he had had lunch with Minnie Driver (niece of his long-time friend Andra) or that he had bought his first car from Donald Sutherland. For Todd, these were not bragging rights, they were simply part of the colourful tapestry of his life.
Todd’s life was filled with extraordinary experiences from surviving plane crashes, avalanches and earthquakes to quietly solving countless problems, which was one of his favourite past-times. His hands, famously large and steady, were always ready to help whether in the chaos of the mountains or the calm of a base camp.&nbsp;
With his sharp sense of humour and the beloved exclamation “Whoopie!”,he could bring lightness even to the toughest moments. He never tired of taking on challenges or helping when someone was in need, and he enriched so many people’s lives with his endless stories.
His legacy is immense. He helped build the human backbone of Himalayan climbing, enabling generations of climbers to test themselves in the world’s highest places. With his passing, an era of bold, spirited Himalayan guiding has come to a close.
Todd survived by a loving family, many close friends and a global community of climbers and Sherpas who will never forget him and his endless tales.&nbsp;
His family said in a statement: ‘Henry’s strength, warmth and unyielding belief in others will live on far above the clouds. He was indestructible in our eyes and in our hearts, he always will be.’
There will be a memorial service at Pashupati Temple in Kathmandu on 8 November 2025 around lunchtime.

Henry Barclay Todd, 80

The autumn mountaineering season is not over yet, and already there have been 12 fatalities on Himalayan peaks in Nepal.
Of the 1,450 climbing permits issued, 436 were for Mt Ama Dablam (6,812m), 374 for Mt Manaslu (8,163m) and 186 for Himlung Himal (7,126m). There were deaths on all three mountains.
The death of two French climbers on Ama Dablam happened before unseasonal blizzards hit the mountains. But Cyclone Montha from the Bay of Bengal brought on high winds and up to 1m of snow in the peak trekking and mountaineering season.
This increased avalanche conditions, and made helicopter evacuation of stranded and injured climbers difficult. Lower down the mountains, more than 1,000 trekkers from Nepal and around the world were stuck in the Annapurnas, Manaslu circuit and the Khumbu.
However, there have also been allegations that it was not just the weather that delayed rescues. Multiple levels of bureaucracy and the need for flight permits to restricted areas like Manang and Manaslu critically delayed evacuation flights.
Italian climbers Farronato Stefano and Caputo Alessandro were found dead in their tent at Panbari Himal Camp I (6,887m) in the Manaslu area. They had been trapped by heavy snowfall since 28 October, and their bodies were found on 4 November by a team from the expedition organisers, Sherpa Alpine Trekking Service. The team was made up of high level mountain guides and expedition leader Valter Perlino.
The team had been climbing to Camp 3 but decided to descend to base camp because of thrombosis in Perlino’s left foot. The two climbers who would eventually get trapped decided to break at Camp I, a decision that would prove fatal after the projected six-day snowfall arrived two days early.
“They were sleeping in a tent and were buried under 2.5 metres of compacted snow. It happened during the night between Thursday and Friday. While they were sleeping, absurd,” said Perlino.
A deadly incident took place the morning of 3 November, when five foreigners and two Nepalis died in an avalanche on Yalung Ri at 5,630m in the Rolwaling. They were part of a larger group of 15 that were acclimatising for an attempt on the nearby Dolma Khang (6,332m).
Local authorities in Gauri Shankar Conservation Area say calls were immediately made to helicopter companies as well as various ministries in Kathmandu that have to issue permits to fly to the region bordering China.
But the permits for rescue flights to Rolwaling Valley were delayed by eight hours. Rescue flights in these areas require permission from the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Defence, the Home Ministry, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).
Experts say this should be exempted in times of emergency when time is of the essence. CAAN spokesperson Pratap Babu Tiwari claimed to not know of the avalanche on Yalung Ri and deflected questions to the permission department.&nbsp;
There was a similar tragedy on Himlung Himal in Manang as well. Australian Chin-Tark Chan, 49, was climbing with 8K Expeditions and fell ill on 27 October at about 6,800m, developing snow blindness and loss of mobility. The guides immediately called the US insurance company Global Rescue for authorisation of a longline rescue.
Global Rescue refused, saying a rescue at that height would violate Nepal’s aviation rules and put the pilot at unacceptable risk. They asked the guides to transport Chan to Camp 3 at 6,400m to a permitted altitude. Seeing it was a life-or-death situation for its client, 8K called in an aerial rescue anyway, but the helicopter could not land due to bad weather. Chan died slightly below Camp 3 on 29 October.
Global Rescue said in a statement that it was ready to send in a helicopter after Chan had been transported to Camp 3, but several hours were lost for that attempt, and the weather did not get better in the next few days.
To underscore just how dangerous helicopter rescues in the Himalaya can be in bad weather, a chopper from Altitude Air skidded off the helipad at Lobuche below Mt Everest while trying to rescue trekkers in whiteout conditions.&nbsp;
CAAN announced a ban on flights during blizzards or dense fog. While rescue missions are often heroic and courageous, they should not be foolhardy if conditions are unsafe and the risk to pilots and rescuers too high. This autumn was a lesson for future expeditions and for the Nepal government.&nbsp;
The Italian duo on Panbari were caught out by snow that arrived two days ahead of schedule, but the group on Yalung Ri should have postponed their ascent after multiple warnings from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology to avoid high altitudes.

Deadly autumn in Himalayan climbing

Traditional donors have sharply scaled back their aid commitments to developing countries over the past year. Some, like the United States, have virtually eliminated their aid programs. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), official development assistance (ODA) from member countries <a href="https://www.oecd.org/en/about/news/press-releases/2025/04/official-development-assistance-2024-figures.html" target="_blank">declined by 7.1%</a> in 2024, its first annual drop in six years. This trend was not limited to a few major donors. Of the 33 members of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC), 22 slashed their aid budgets, and only four countries met the United Nations’ target of allocating 0.7% of gross national income to ODA. The outlook for the coming year offers little hope for improvement, as major DAC donors have announced additional cuts. Most notably, US President Donald Trump’s administration has suspended most foreign aid and dismantled the Agency for International Development (USAID), which dispersed most US government aid dollars. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom plans to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyrkkv4gd7o" target="_blank">reduce aid spending</a> from 0.5% of GNI to 0.3% by 2027. Similar retrenchment across Europe and North America is reshaping international assistance, disrupting humanitarian and climate-related programs, and creating financing gaps in critical sectors such as health, education, and clean energy. In our 2017 book <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/going-beyond-aid/B48F59C6D8D2790D403A1A0C44B37612" target="_blank">Going Beyond Aid</a>, we urged developing-country governments to reduce their dependence on foreign aid, not only because it was becoming an unreliable source of funding, but also because other, better ways of financing development were becoming more available. That message is more urgent than ever. As reliance on aid becomes untenable, the international community must mobilise a broader array of financing sources to advance green and sustainable growth. This includes national development banks, industrial investment funds, sovereign wealth funds, and institutional investment in public markets, as well as innovative mechanisms such as debt swaps and public-private partnerships (PPPs). These tools can unlock domestic resources, attract long-term investors, and create synergies between public goals and private capital. Equity investment offers a promising avenue for engaging non-traditional development partners while reducing developing countries’ dependence on debt. Government investment funds, public and private financial institutions, and other private actors can participate by taking equity stakes in public enterprises, financing infrastructure projects, or joining PPPs. Such participation not only alleviates debt burdens but also improves the performance and management of public assets. As government-funded, mission-driven institutions, public development banks (PDBs) have the potential to provide patient capital for green and sustainable investment in emerging and developing economies (EMDEs). Building on the <a href="http://www.dfidatabase.pku.edu.cn/index.htm" target="_blank">pioneering database</a> of public development and financial institutions created by the Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University, future research can identify effective ways to harness these institutions to fuel low-carbon growth. Responding to growing demand from the economies of the Global South, development partners have increasingly adopted an “entire value chain” approach to the green transition in recent years. This strategy facilitates transfers of low-carbon technologies, diffusion of digital innovations (including trade in services), and industrial modernisation, enabling countries included in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to accelerate their shift toward sustainable development. Empirical research supports this approach. An analysis covering 139 countries <a href="https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/the-first-evidence-of-a-take-off-in-solar-in-africa/" target="_blank">finds</a> that, following policy directives to incorporate green and low-carbon principles into the BRI, carbon intensity (CO₂ emissions per unit of GDP) among participating countries declined significantly between 2013 and 2022. These findings are consistent with another <a href="https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/the-first-evidence-of-a-take-off-in-solar-in-africa/" target="_blank">recent study</a> showing how China’s solar-energy expansion has helped transform Africa’s power sector. Investment in infrastructure and industrial development can also generate positive spillover effects. Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jors.70023" target="_blank">shows</a> that the presence of at least one Chinese-financed infrastructure project in a second-order administrative region (comparable to a municipality) is associated with a 5% increase in nighttime luminosity – a widely used proxy for economic activity. Neighbouring regions experienced a 10-15% rise in luminosity, indicating that the benefits of such projects extend well beyond the immediate investment site.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251104131124_1a11d248a89b0785bc7d7f1d9f721e7e7a2563cbd579c3c672a0900220c19171.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20251104131124_1a11d248a89b0785bc7d7f1d9f721e7e7a2563cbd579c3c672a0900220c19171" data-rendition-name="original" width="720" height="405" loading="lazy" alt="development aid and China"></figure>  These outcomes underscore the critical role of infrastructure investment, particularly in energy and transportation projects. By improving electricity access, affordability, and connectivity, they reduce energy poverty, bolster public services, and stimulate economic activity in underserved areas. To meet the evolving challenges of development finance, both traditional and non-traditional donors and creditors should move beyond aid and adopt multidimensional strategies that combine trade, investment, infrastructure, green technology, and digital connectivity, including fintech solutions, to support EMDEs. Importantly, such collaborations should be viewed as a mutual learning process in which partners assume complementary roles and shared responsibilities. To be sure, there have been missteps along the way. China’s financing of coal-fired power plants before 2021, for example, had slowed reduction in CO₂ emissions. But these outcomes, once recognised as policy errors, can help strengthen accountability and foster self-correcting mechanisms within the international development ecosystem. Through ongoing learning and adaptation, global partners can build a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable framework for development finance. © <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/">Project Syndicate</a> Justin Yifu Lin, a former World Bank chief economist and Senior VP, is the honorary dean of the National School of Development and director of the Institute of New Structural Economics at Peking University. Yan Wang is Senior Academic Researcher at Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center.

Development finance must shift away from aid

This is the 73rd episode of Diaspora Diaries, a Nepali Times series in collaboration with Migration Lab providing a platform to share experiences of living, working and studying abroad. Excerpts from conversations with Malaysian-based workers from Jajarkot, hired under a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/fee-free-migration-is-possible" target="_blank">responsible recruitment drive</a> 18 months ago. Some of the candidates were previously interviewed last November 3.&nbsp; Jeevan Shahi As the eldest son, I support 10 family members: my wife and two sons, my parents during illness and festivals, my brother’s family while he prepares for the civil service exam, and my sister who is a student. If one person living abroad helps 10 family members, I am content to be a migrant worker overseas. My sons are now 14 and 12. They are growing up quickly, and I miss them. Mostly, I miss my elderly parents. They tell me they think of me when they are eating good food, especially when my mother cooks meat. My mother also misses me when there are fresh apples or cucumbers from the field. I worry about my parents most.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251103141128_5f55dcd01a1c236a250fe116e0f869a50b2866cac33cff9bb7ae375293dfef2a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20251103141128_5f55dcd01a1c236a250fe116e0f869a50b2866cac33cff9bb7ae375293dfef2a" data-rendition-name="original" width="914" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="responsible recruitment Jajarkot"> <figcaption>Jeevan Shahi in Malaysia.</figcaption> </figure>  I recently sent them a smart phone which my father is still trying to learn how to use. Until recently, I could only see their faces when my family members were visiting them. I watched them this Dasain, and it made me homesick. Once my father learns to use the phone we can have more frequent video calls. Before coming to Malaysia, I had only gone to India to work. But when I saw that we did not have to pay any recruitment fees for this job, I thought, why not give it a try. It turned out to be a good decision. Otherwise, I would have gone to India where I could earn Rs20,000 at most. Here, with overtime, I can earn over Rs100,000. With my savings, I have bought land near the market in Kohalpur where I moved a few years back. I plan to build a house and run a small ice cream business there.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251103141124_76e080f9d75412f596dfd0fb8b4f6628e02028ccef78c3c5234d83442cd0d275.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20251103141124_76e080f9d75412f596dfd0fb8b4f6628e02028ccef78c3c5234d83442cd0d275" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="908" loading="lazy" alt="responsible recruitment Jajarkot"> <figcaption>Jeevan Shahi with friends in Malaysia.</figcaption> </figure>  I have to think about a viable business plan because unlike in the mountains, you have to even buy water in the Tarai. My father has suggested we bring down two of our buffalos from Jajarkot to Kohalpur for the ice cream venture. I am not impressed with the watered down milk from the dairy. I will have to invest in ice-cream makers, refrigerators, physical facilities and several pushcarts. I will engage all my family members, and believe that it will be a lucrative business.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025110315118_4da135fcd504e80ae82263cc7b983aab9a43b02702cb5bce6e20f69522ffa021.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2025110315118_4da135fcd504e80ae82263cc7b983aab9a43b02702cb5bce6e20f69522ffa021" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Jajarkot earthquake"> <figcaption>3 November 2023 Jajarkot earthquake.</figcaption> </figure>  I vividly remember the earthquake two years ago. It still makes my body tremble. We had gone to Jajarkot to my parents’ house from Kohalpur. We were fast asleep when the earthquake struck at 11PM. When the house started shaking, we thought it was ghosts. We rushed outside. There was no phone signal, and people were blowing whistles. We dared not go back to the house. It was difficult to go to sleep. It was Jajarkot’s black day. Janak Bahadur Singh Within a month of arriving in Malaysia, my mother fell sick. She needed surgery and had to be rushed to Nepalganj and medical costs were more than Rs400,000. We relied on loans, including from colleagues in Malaysia to cover the costs.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251103141132_019978d723ded0ae568d84f0b3bea41739ae6b128a4b90966ab8b780df93709f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20251103141132_019978d723ded0ae568d84f0b3bea41739ae6b128a4b90966ab8b780df93709f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="responsible recruitment Jajarkot NT"> <figcaption>Janak Bahadur Singh in Malaysia.</figcaption> </figure>  When there is a family member abroad, it is easier for folks back home to borrow money from local lenders. I have now paid off my loans, and my mother is doing better. I had to postpone plans to rebuild our house, but now I have used my savings to pay an advance to builders. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/quake-survivors-migrate-for-work">Quake survivors migrate for work</a> But just before Dasain, my brother’s two daughters were swept away by a river in Nepalganj and drowned. We are in mourning and have postponed construction for six months, and hopefully the advance will be reimbursed. Since we will not be using my savings immediately for the house, I might invest it for my sister’s plan to migrate to Japan. Srijung B K It has been two years since the earthquake, and 18 months since I came here. We have not &nbsp;received support from the Nepal government other than the Rs50,000 to build a temporary shelter. With my overseas earnings, we have bought land in the market area since the family home is in a remote area. My long-term plan is to start an agro-vet shop and poultry farm, for which the new location is more suitable. I hope to start building a house in the coming year.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251103141132_e015105d653f019750cb6e364da5188672581167a97ea07f9f4575a8e0b5e5f6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20251103141132_e015105d653f019750cb6e364da5188672581167a97ea07f9f4575a8e0b5e5f6" data-rendition-name="original" width="4032" height="2268" loading="lazy" alt="responsible recruitment Jajarkot NT"> <figcaption>Srijung B K with his family in Jajarkot.</figcaption> </figure>  This is my first overseas work, and I plan to stay for another six or seven years if all goes well. I miss my family and the village environment back in Jajarkot, but it helps that many of us from my village are also here. Remittances have helped my family cover household expenses. My father used to support the family with his carpentry job but his health is failing as he ages. So I have stepped up.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251103141132_bbf661fd1d162cd5cad4498bf2c0dab1d9f9b8c9a19e5b668b064645266ec843.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20251103141132_bbf661fd1d162cd5cad4498bf2c0dab1d9f9b8c9a19e5b668b064645266ec843" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="responsible recruitment Jajarkot NT"> <figcaption>Srijung B K in Malaysia.</figcaption> </figure>  Khadak Singh After the earthquake I came to Malaysia, and with my earnings have paid off our Rs800,000 loan for my father’s medical expenses. I have also bought land in Kohalpur. Paying off the loans is a big relief to the family, since the debt trap created a lot of tension in the household. Now we are free from that burden. I plan to stay here for another five years or so. Other than the first tranch of the Rs50,000 we received from the Nepal government to build a temporary shelter, there has been no other help. We added some of our own money to make decent temprorary living quarters.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251103141152_dc34256f7287bd30d6167c20cd252d291bf0d7b6b8d839fec57664bebc329e32.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20251103141152_dc34256f7287bd30d6167c20cd252d291bf0d7b6b8d839fec57664bebc329e32" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="responsible recruitment Jajarkot"> <figcaption>Khadak Singh being interviewed for the Malaysia job.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251103141152_f65cfd8888d9aec696b89c544985617fa4d58234aff51e0bc9e103bdda1a9d29.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20251103141152_f65cfd8888d9aec696b89c544985617fa4d58234aff51e0bc9e103bdda1a9d29" data-rendition-name="original" width="1143" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="responsible recruitment Jajarkot"> <figcaption>Khadak Singh in Malaysia.</figcaption> </figure>  Uncertainty about government reconstruction guidelines for more support has delayed our plans to rebuild our house. I don’t have much expectation, but will build a house regardless in Kohalpur and bring my family down. I continue to write <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQvM_yAUETg" target="_blank">songs</a> in Malaysia, and when the time and situation allow it, I plan to record them in a studio. When I last migrated to Malaysia, it was just to get out of Nepal and I did not achieve much. This time, I am planning better and working hard to achieve my goals. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cQvM_yAUETg?si=AKM2UNMYBHytckNq" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> Bir Bahadur Karki When I was working in Saudi Arabia, I had once visited a goat farm in the desert. After seeing how 150 goats were raised in such an arid place, it made me think of everything we could do in our village where there is more vegetation. These thoughts kept recurring, and I was so determined to run a farm back home that I resigned from my job and returned to Nepal. Many advised me I could get better returns if I invested elsewhere, but I put all my money into buying land and building sheds for goats, chicken, and fish ponds. I did not have much experience, but started with different goat breeds. But they got sick and I suffered heavy losses. I sought help from the government, but there was no support besides a small grant and recognition as a ‘best farmer’. I struggled to pay my taxes, so I decided to migrate overseas so I could save enough to invest in agriculture in Nepal. My heart is still in it, and my only hope is to one day become the best livestock farmer. So far, I have saved Rs1.5 million and am planning to eventually set up a dairy farm in Nepal.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251103141156_ce2b2ce11895128c1b66688a16944ae08d7b0f9e8e2118d88d402f0a97ab04af.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20251103141156_ce2b2ce11895128c1b66688a16944ae08d7b0f9e8e2118d88d402f0a97ab04af" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="responsible recruitment Jajarkot"> <figcaption>Bir Bahadur Karki in Malaysia. Right: with his mother in Nepal.</figcaption> </figure>  My wife is already doing lemon and orange agriculture back home, with saplings from the government although we don’t have much income from that business yet. I advise her from Malaysia, and we both discuss and make decisions together. I am confident that we will do better in future. My family in Jajarkot is still living in a temporary shelter. There has been no housing grant, and the guidelines are confusing. My wife was expecting when I came to Malaysia, and there is no male member of my family after my father died. I have put in extra effort to build a comfortable, well-insulated shelter. My son was born three months after I came to Malaysia. I was extremely nervous when my wife went into labour. When my sister-in-law called to tell me that the baby was born, I was relieved and shared the good news with my friends. I plan to stay on in Malaysia since I have some debts to pay off. I will be home next Dasain, and that is when I will get to see my son for the first time.

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