Every time the price of fuel rises in Nepal, the country performs a familiar ritual: a longer weekend is announced, officials speak of austerity, an odd-even for vehicle is mulled, and the nation tightens its belt, waits for the global market to settle, and then quietly returns to exactly where it was before: exposed and dependent.
With barely ten days of petroleum in reserve, this is not crisis management but crisis theatre. And we have been performing it, with minor variations, during every crisis in the past 50 years.
Crude oil prices have surged past $100 per barrel (from $72/barrel before the war) and further increase is expected if the Strait of Hormuz continues to be disrupted much longer. The oil shock hit Nepal hard with the new government raising fuel prices four times in the past month and petrol hitting Rs232 per litre, up from Rs152.&nbsp;
But it is spoken of as an external factor, something visited upon Nepal from the outside over which we have no control. That framing may be comforting, but dishonest. This is not the cruelty of circumstance. It is a harvest of a structural negligence so deeply embedded that successive governments mistakenly treat it as normal.
In 2015, Nepal’s economy was brought to its knees when fuel supply from India was stopped for nearly five months. Factories shuttered, hospitals ran short of medicines, private vehicles were off the roads, and earthquake relief was stuck.
Black market petrol was sold in mineral water bottles by the roadside for three times the official rate. When it was over, the reckoning was swift and the promise was absolute: Nepal would build strategic petroleum reserves sufficient to last 90 days.&nbsp;
This was not an ambition. It was treated as a covenant, a debt owed to the 800,000 during that bleak winter 10 years ago. A decade later, Nepal holds only up to 13 days of fuel reserves.
That number, not any trade statistic, policy paper or any diplomatic disagreement, is the failure of every government that has held power since to give Nepal a breathing space on energy during a crisis. It is the ledger on which their energy stewardship should be judged.&nbsp;
The Lothar oil terminal is under construction, and its expansion plans exist only on paper. Construction timelines slip, budgets stretch, and in the meantime the country wakes every few years to the same queue outside every petrol station, the same panic, the same ritual of weekend closures and official proclamations.
What makes this particularly difficult to defend is not the vulnerability itself, Nepal is landlocked, import-dependent, and subject to geopolitical pressures it cannot fully control. These are genuine constraints. The tragedy is that the vulnerability is entirely foreseeable, and has been for years.&nbsp;
Strategic petroleum reserves are not a sophisticated intervention. They are a buffer, the most elementary form of national insurance. Every major economy that imports fuel maintains them. The International Energy Agency (IEA) sets 90 days as the global standard. India holds 25 days and is working toward 45. Jordan, similarly, dependent on imports, holds 60 days. Nepal, with the full knowledge of what it means, holds just 13 days.&nbsp;
The argument has never been that storage capacity is impossible to build. It is that they have never been made a legislative obligation, never written into law with a deadline, a penalty, and a mechanism for enforcement. Every government has treated it as a target rather than a threshold. And targets, in the history of governance in Nepal, have an unhappy tendency to drift.
Nepal now exports electricity to its neighbours. The country that cannot keep its petrol stations stocked for a fortnight earns revenue from selling hydroelectric power. Many new passenger vehicles sold here run on electricity. The grid is more than 95% renewable. By these measures, Nepal is ahead of countries with vastly more resources.&nbsp;
This is no small achievement, it reflects a genuine and organic momentum in the economy, driven as much by citizens choosing electric vehicles for practical reasons as by any government mandate.
But this momentum is built on an unstable foundation. The energy transition, however real, has not yet reduced Nepal’s vulnerability to petroleum shocks. Diesel still moves nearly all freight. LPG still cooks most meals. Aviation, industry, and heavy transport remain entirely fossil dependent.&nbsp;
The tactical response, price adjustment, tax relief, demand suppression, addresses none of this. It is the work of a country that has accepted its own fragility as a permanent feature, and learned to manage the symptoms rather than treat the condition.
The new government arrives with something its predecessors did not have: an unambiguous parliamentary majority and a mandate built explicitly on the promise of structural reform. Political capital of this magnitude must be spent on hard decisions, or it is spent on nothing at all.
The hard decision here is not complicated: it requires a single piece of legislation, an Energy Security Act that mandates a minimum strategic petroleum reserve of 60 days within three years, establishes an independent monitoring body, and makes non-compliance a matter of ministerial accountability rather than administrative aspiration.&nbsp;
This is not a target, not a policy. It is a law.
There will be other wars, droughts, border disruptions, geopolitical tremors and crises that create a fuel shortage and sky high prices. The question is not if that day will come, but when.
Will Nepal, by then, have built itself a margin of survival? The pledge of 2015 to build strategic reserves is still unfulfilled. The new government can finish the job.&nbsp;
Ashutosh Dev is a PhD researcher at Victoria University of Wellington and a New Zealand Award Scholar specialising in renewable energy systems, energy resilience, and the socio-technical transitions of the Global South.&nbsp;

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Nepal is a 13-day country

In 2024, renewables accounted for the largest share of growth in global energy supply. For the first time, solar and wind generation exceeded coal and gas in the European Union. In the United States, solar and wind reached 16%, overtaking coal. In China, solar and wind generated about 20% of total power. More than 51% of India’s total installed electricity capacity now comes from non-fossil fuel sources.&nbsp; Together, these shifts point to a system in transition at a time when the world is once again confronting a global energy crisis due to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. But this is not an isolated disruption — it is a structural signal reminding us that fossil fuel dependence is not only environmentally unsustainable, but also economically and geopolitically precarious. History shows that crises can be turning points. They disrupt inertia, challenge established systems, and open space for transformation.&nbsp; Many countries are responding to the war by accelerating their energy transitions. In <a href="https://asianinsiders.com/2026/03/31/asia-energy-transition-plans-oil-crisis/" target="_blank">Asia</a>, India, Indonesia and Vietnam are scaling up renewables and electric mobility, while also exploring storage and grid upgrades. China continues to lead globally in solar and wind expansion, rapidly increasing domestic capacity to reduce exposure to external shocks. Japan and South Korea are investing in hydrogen, offshore wind and next-generation energy systems. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/16/south-korea-solar-power-renewables-revolution" target="_blank">South Korea</a> is expanding community-based solar programs, linking clean energy with local development and economic benefits. In Europe, the response has been both immediate and strategic. The <a href="https://commission.europa.eu/topics/energy/repowereu_en" target="_blank">European Union’s REPowerEU plan</a> aims to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels while accelerating renewables, improving efficiency, and diversifying supply. Germany, Spain, and Denmark are expanding wind and solar at scale, with renewables increasingly outcompeting fossil fuels. Chile is advancing solar and green hydrogen, Brazil is strengthening its renewable-based power system, and South Africa is opening space for private renewable investment to address power shortages. Efforts are underway even in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/15/cuba-beat-us-energy-blockade-investment-renewables" target="_blank">Cuba to scale renewables</a> to reduce reliance on imported fuels. Energy security and climate action are no longer competing priorities, they are deeply aligned. Renewable energy offers not just emissions reduction, but independence from volatile global markets. The question is no longer whether the transition will happen, but how quickly it can scale. The current crisis is also reshaping global climate diplomacy. Initiatives such as the <a href="https://transitionawayconference.com/" target="_blank">Santa Marta Conference</a>, bringing together countries committed to accelerating the fossil fuel transition, signal growing political momentum for systemic change. These efforts reflect increasing frustration with slow progress and a recognition that incremental change is no longer sufficient. This aligns with broader developments under the Paris Agreement. The outcome of the first Global Stocktake marked a historic shift in global consensus, reaffirming that the 1.5°C goal requires not just emissions reduction, but a fundamental transformation of energy systems. The COP30 Presidency in Brazil has further championed this by advancing roadmaps for transitioning away from fossil fuels and scaling up clean energy deployment. It serves as a catalyst to translate global commitments into practical pathways, linking ambition with implementation. NEPAL'S EXAMPLE  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260426090444_cb2659cf00a284ab7f6578963a4fed861133cfbb0141c6d13bb779a42f9f50aa.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260426090444_cb2659cf00a284ab7f6578963a4fed861133cfbb0141c6d13bb779a42f9f50aa" data-rendition-name="original" width="906" height="460" loading="lazy" alt="energy trandition due to West Asia conflict"> </figure>  Despite rising global prices, Nepal’s overall spending on fuel imports has declined for the last four consecutive years, driven by the expansion of hydropower, increased electrification, growing adoption of electric vehicles (page 5) and electric cooking, and policy measures aligned with Nepal’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Together, these efforts are beginning to reshape the country’s energy landscape. Also, from last fiscal year the country is &nbsp;exporting clean hydro electricity. Nepal’s experience shows that transitions do not always require massive technological breakthroughs. It often begins with incremental changes, better policies, targeted investments and shifts in behaviour. It demonstrates that even in the face of structural challenges, it is possible to reduce fossil fuel dependence while advancing development goals. Too often, short-term responses to crises, such as fuel subsidies or increased fossil fuel production, undermine long-term goals. Rather than increasing dependence on fossil fuel, <a href="https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/energy-prices-are-spiking-again_a68e5c37-en/full-report.html" target="_blank">investments should focus on diversification</a>, efficiency and clean energy systems. The transition is not a question of feasibility, but of priorities. Choices made today will shape the future for decades to come.&nbsp; We can choose to treat this as a temporary disruption, patching up the system and returning to business as usual. Or we can recognise it as a turning point, an opportunity to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable, resilient and equitable energy system. What is needed now is the will to act and invest because every crisis holds the seeds of a new beginning. Manjeet Dhakal is the Head of the LDC Support Team at Climate Analytics and Director for Climate Analytics South Asia.

Silver lining in war clouds

In the first six days of the United States military campaign against Iran, Washington spent $11.3 billion, according to a Pentagon briefing to Senate appropriations staff. The entire annual operating budget of the United Nations stands at $3.45 billion for 2026, covering diplomacy, political missions, human rights monitoring, and the institutional machinery designed to prevent conflict. In less than a week, one country spent more than three times what the world invests in preventing conflict over an entire year.&nbsp;
Since then, the Pentagon has asked the US Congress for more than $200 billion in supplemental funding to sustain the campaign and replenish depleted munitions stocks.
This is not an anomaly. It reflects a structural feature of the international system: the consistent overfunding of war and the chronic underinvestment in prevention.
The imbalance is not primarily about scarcity. Global military expenditure exceeded $2.2 trillion in 2024 and continues to rise across regions. Over the same period, funding for multilateral institutions has stagnated or declined in real terms. The United Nations, whose core mandate is the maintenance of international peace and security, operates on a budget modest by the standards of national governments, with many member states in arrears on their assessed contributions. This pattern reflects a political economy that consistently privileges the financing of conflict over the financing of prevention.
Part of the explanation lies in political incentives. Military spending is visible, immediate, and readily justified to domestic audiences. It signals resolve and responsiveness to threat, and political leaders can mobilise support for such expenditure quickly, often with limited scrutiny once a crisis is framed in security terms.
Prevention operates differently. When diplomacy succeeds, when tensions de-escalate, when mediation holds, there is no spectacle and no clear political dividend. Success registers as absence. This asymmetry between the visibility of war and the invisibility of peace systematically distorts how resources are allocated.
Institutional dynamics reinforce this bias. Defence establishments are typically well-resourced and embedded in decision-making systems. Diplomatic and development institutions are more fragmented, more vulnerable to cuts, and often politically marginal.
In several major donor countries, development agencies have been weakened or absorbed into broader foreign policy structures, reducing their ability to act early and independently. At the multilateral level, the United Nations depends on assessed contributions that are frequently delayed or withheld, alongside voluntary funding that is unpredictable and often earmarked. Peacebuilding remains one of the least funded areas of the system, despite repeated recognition that prevention is more cost-effective than response.
The consequences are cumulative and mutually reinforcing. When preventive diplomacy capacities are under-resourced, opportunities for de-escalation narrow and conflicts are more likely to reach the point where military intervention appears unavoidable. When the United Nations is tasked with managing complex crises without adequate or predictable funding, its performance is constrained, reinforcing perceptions of ineffectiveness and further eroding political support for multilateral solutions.&nbsp;
The costs of conflict are then externalised globally: military escalation in strategically sensitive regions disrupts energy markets, trade routes, and supply chains, with the resulting increases in fuel and food prices falling disproportionately on low- and middle-income countries. A
t the same time, decisions to mobilise large-scale resources for military operations are typically taken within executive branches, with limited sustained public debate, while the underfunding of diplomacy and development is normalised as a technical constraint rather than recognised as a strategic choice.
It would be misleading to argue that the use of force is never justified. States face real security threats, and there are circumstances in which military action is deemed necessary. In the case of Iran, however, a functioning diplomatic framework had already demonstrated that constraints on its nuclear programme were achievable. The diplomatic option was dismantled, not exhausted. Senior American intelligence officials stated publicly that Iran was years away from the threat cited to justify the campaign.&nbsp;
But the current structure of incentives ensures that diplomacy is too often set up to fail: under-resourced before it begins, and then judged ineffective when crises escalate.
Rebalancing this political economy requires more than incremental budget adjustments. At the national level, it means integrating preventive approaches into foreign and security policy with corresponding investments in diplomatic capacity, development partnerships, and early warning systems, alongside greater transparency in how resources are allocated between military and non-military instruments.&nbsp;
At the multilateral level, member states need to provide more predictable and adequate financing for the United Nations, particularly in peacebuilding and conflict prevention. Addressing arrears in assessed contributions and strengthening flexible funding mechanisms would be immediate steps. Coalitions of middle powers, countries with a strong interest in a stable international order but less directly engaged in great power competition, have a particular role in advancing practical initiatives on prevention financing and institutional reform.
The issue is not whether resources exist. The scale of global military expenditure makes clear that they do. The question is whether states are willing to treat prevention not as an aspiration, but as a strategic priority.
As long as the current imbalance persists, the system will continue to produce the same outcome: rapid mobilisation of resources for war, and chronic underinvestment in the institutions that might make war less likely. This is not a failure of capacity. It is a failure of political choice.
Jordan Ryan is a member of the Toda International Research Advisory Council (TIRAC) at the Toda Peace Institute, and former UN Assistant Secretary-General with extensive experience in international peacebuilding, human rights, and development policy.
This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and has been republished from <a href="https://toda.org/global-outlooks/why-the-world-funds-war-but-starves-peace/">the original</a> with permission.

World funds war but starves peace

As war escalates across West Asia, Nepali workers navigate fear, uncertainty and the pressure to keep earning, while back home a new government readies to take charge. &nbsp;&nbsp; Khagendra Basnet, 42, has spent seven years as a security guard here. He sits silently during a long night shift as his mobile phone screeches alerts. Explosions follow as Iranian missiles and drones are intercepted overhead.&nbsp; Three weeks into the war, residents in Qatar have gone from fear to resignation, some even returning to dinners at the Pearl and Souq Waqif under flashes of missiles in the sky.&nbsp; Basnet’s company contracted him to US-affiliated institutions and he works near the American Embassy. He is apprehensive, “I panic from time to time as there is no saying when it is safe.” Qatar’s location and its US air base at Al Udeid puts it at risk of Iranian missile attacks. The base was struck on the very first day of the war on 28 February. Oil and gas installations in Iran and across the Gulf were targetted this week.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260319090332_e3b4c07574b9680a40263d0a005bd08a2864a4c49747762203fd92d01cdf799a.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260319090332_e3b4c07574b9680a40263d0a005bd08a2864a4c49747762203fd92d01cdf799a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1036" height="582" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis in Doha during war"> </figure>  While no deaths have been reported in Qatar so far, there is fear among Nepalis in the Gulf states, as well as in Israel itself where there are 7,000 caregivers and nurses.&nbsp; Three South Asian migrant workers were killed by debris from intercepted Iranian drones above Abu Dhabi on 28 February. Among them was 29-year-old Diwas Shrestha from Gorkha, who had been working as a security guard. “Hearing that news made my heart ache,” says Basnet. “What if my family has to bear a similar tragedy without saying goodbye, and hearing from news sources?” Basnet came to Qatar to save enough to support his family. His company had promised him a plane ticket home in April, but Doha airport is only partially open for limited routes. He says, “My family is really worried. I assure them that it’s all ok, just to lessen their fear.” Basnet’s thoughts are about the political change back home in Nepal. He blames the decades of corrupt governments for not creating opportunities for people like him in Nepal, and forcing him to work in a war zone. The Foreign Ministry issued an advisory to the nearly 2 million Nepalis in Israel, Iran and other West Asian countries telling them to follow local security instructions.&nbsp; “We have formed an Emergency Response Team with different departments in light of the ongoing conflict in West Asia. We are closely monitoring the situation through our 24/7-operating control rooms, our embassies and advisories in the region, and online information forms,” says Lok Bahadur Poudel Chettri of the Foreign Ministry in Kathmandu. More than 65,000 Nepali citizens have registered in the ministry's online system, among whom roughly 6,000 requested emergency assistance.&nbsp; Foreign Minister Balananda Sharma has said Nepal would “use both air and sea routes” if the number of people requiring assistance increases.&nbsp; However, the department sees no immediate need for mass-evacuation from the region.&nbsp; But for many workers here, the issue is not only whether they are officially asked to leave. It is whether they can afford to.&nbsp; On 14 March MoFA advised Nepalis in Qatar to secure Saudi tourist visas in advance so they could use the Salwa border route and fly out to Nepal.&nbsp; Other governments evacuated their nationals through overland transfers, charter flights, and consular assistance routed via Saudi Arabia or Oman.&nbsp; The Indian Embassy in Qatar facilitated departures through limited Qatar Airways flights and through Saudi Arabia, including temporary 96-hour Saudi transit visas for its Indian nationals.&nbsp; “I checked the available options and it will cost at least 4,000 riyals (Rs157,000) to fly to Nepal via Saudi Arabia, and most flights are already booked,” says Basnet, whose salary is only 1,800 riyal a month. NEW NORMAL For most migrant workers in Qatar, fear has become routine. Arun Thapa, 31, works at a food delivery company here, and was in his room scrolling through TikTok when he first saw videos and updates about war breaking out 28 February.&nbsp; Before he could fully process what was happening, emergency alerts began ringing on his phone, followed by explosions in the sky.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260319090332_4eeb6f20a1006baa2eaaa8461759a99a8c257099725c7bc3acf1b4b21a893603.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260319090332_4eeb6f20a1006baa2eaaa8461759a99a8c257099725c7bc3acf1b4b21a893603" data-rendition-name="original" width="1096" height="319" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis in Doha during war"> <figcaption>Snoonu, a Qatar-based food delivery app, message to its customers on the initial days of the conflict</figcaption> </figure>  For Thapa this was less scary than the Israeli air strike in Doha last September targetting the Hamas leadership. He was delivering food when he heard the bombs go off at that time.&nbsp; “That day, I was really frightened. It was my first time seeing this,” recalls Thapa. “That is not to say I am not scared now, of course, I am,” he says. “I try not to overthink, and get on with my job.” Thapa came to Qatar 10 years ago after being first rejected for medical reasons. He first worked in Bangalore as a waiter, and connections he built there helped him secure a job in a supermarket in Qatar. Unlike many migrants he did not have to pay an exorbitant amount to recruiters. Still, he was promised a salary of 2,500 riyals a month, which was the main reason he agreed to come, but found out he would earn only half that.&nbsp; His job is risky even without war: riders spend long hours on the road, exposed to traffic, heat and now the possibility of falling missile debris. But he came here to earn and save, and this means he has to overcome his fear. Thapa wants to stay on for another two years because he still has loans after buying land for his family. “It has become a habit. If I hear an alert, I park my bike to watch the fireworks, and get back to delivering,” he says. “People are not as scared as they were at first. Despite everything, Qatar feels safe.”&nbsp; But if the war escalates, Thapa does not expect much from his company beyond the annual return ticket, he will have to fend for himself. He is somewhat more optimistic about the Nepal Embassy helping than before.&nbsp; Even though Nepal is a neutral country, its citizens are now scattered across the globe — many of them in war zones like West Asia. Ten Nepalis were killed in the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023, at the Canadian Embassy in Kabul in 2014, and the dozen Nepalis were killed in Iraq in 2004. At least 1,000 Nepalis are fighting in the Russian Army against Ukraine, and 110 have been killed. Economic desperation and tempting offers by recruiters pushes many to risk their lives just to support their families. “Labour and migration must be diversified and not be entirely dependent on Gulf countries,” says Pitambar Ghimire at the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security in Kathmandu. “We must ensure safe and dignified migration in our labour diplomacy.” With the change of government in Nepal, there is hope among migrants that in the long term there will be better job opportunities, but there is the immediate risk posed by the West Asia war.&nbsp; Nepal needs to move beyond lip service to migrant workers for supporting the country with their remittances, to ensuring their safety and security.&nbsp; Khagendra Basnet stares out at the glittering Doha skyline, gives a worrying glance at the sky, saying,“I hope I can still live safely and be here to work and earn. If not, I will have to find a way back.”&nbsp; Some names have been changed to protect their identity.

Migrant workers in wartime

Just three weeks in, Prime Minister Balendra Shah has already shed two ministers, and is having to contend with the economic fallout of the West Asia war plus the global order that it has upended.&nbsp;
The new dispensation in Nepal has aroused interest in New Delhi, Beijing as well as Washington. The ouster of Home Minister Sudan Gurung, whose first act in office was to arrest former prime minister K P Oli, has foreign policy wonks scratching their heads.
The US sent Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Samir Paul Kapur on a special mission to figure out what is happening in Kathmandu. In town at the same time was Cao Jing, Deputy Director General of the Asian Affairs Department of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And Prime Minister Shah is preparing for an official visit to India.
For the Americans, it is mostly about containing China and looking after the welfare of Tibetan refugees, while pushing its own MCC Compact and State Partnership Program (SSP). Beijing is mindful of the post-Dalai Lama era, and does not want instability in Nepal to encourage free-Tibet activities. India lately seems more wary of American activity in what it considers its backyard.
The Chinese appear relieved to see Sudan Gurung go. Only last week, Ambassador Zhang Maoming met Gurung during which he raised the issue of Tibetan and Taiwanese activities in Nepal, seeking firm commitment that Kathmandu would not harbour activities hostile to Beijing.
“Geographically we are close to Tibet and not to the Mainland, so China remains suspicious of us, especially after the TOB and free-Tibet components that emerged from the GenZ protests,” says geopolitical analyst Indra Adhikari.
Kapur, for his part, met RSP Chair Rabi Lamichhane, Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle and Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal. Although investment and infrastructure was on the agenda, the main issue seems to have been about Tibetan refugees. In nearly parallel meetings with ministers, Cao Jing warned Nepal not to be too cosy with the Americans.
For Indian academic and Nepal watcher Sukh Deo Muni, all this harks back to American activity in Nepal during the height of the Cold War. He tweeted: ‘US senior diplomat Paul Kapur's statement in Kathmandu must be understood carefully in New Delhi. He said the US does not want China or any other country to dominate Nepal.’&nbsp;
‘Any other country’ could be a pointed reference to India, and what this means is that Nepal may now have to navigate even more carefully a tri-polar world order reshaped by the West Asia war.&nbsp;
Nepali journalist based in New Delhi Akanshya Shah agrees that the United States may not be seeing Nepal through the Indian lens anymore, while New Delhi does not want heightened US activity in what it considers its sphere of influence. All this is further complicated by recent frostiness in Washington-New Delhi ties.
“New Delhi doesn’t have that familiarity factor it used to with old leadership in Nepal, but it is curious about what the young Balen Shah will do and what kind of relation he will pursue with India,” she adds. “Certain decisions of the Balen government such as ending VIP culture and delivering passport at homes have hugely resonated with the Indian people, he has in some ways become a role model among the youth in India as well.”
India has invited Prime Minister Shah for an official state visit, which will be his first foreign trip as per tradition. Shah graduated in structural engineering from a college in Bengaluru, and knows India well. Shah has injected religious elements into his public exposure as prime minister and this could help project Nepal’s ‘soft power’ in dealing with India.
But he has also been a nationalist on the Limpiyadhura map dispute, and there are other thorny issues like air connectivity, river projects and power exports that need to be ironed out.&nbsp;
Sukh Deo Muni warns that the old Indian diplomatic approach based on religio-cultural stakeholders in Kathmandu may not work anymore. He wrote: ‘India's Modi government must prepare itself well to deal with new Nepalese leadership and their empowered support base, which is self-confident, highly nationalist, aspirant and impatient.’
The RSP’s 22-page National Commitment document said Nepal should abandon its historical ‘buffer state’ identity to serve as a ‘vibrant bridge’ between regional and global powers. Much of this debate is theoretical, and there is much navel-gazing that distracts from regional realpolitik.&nbsp;
“Whether we are a buffer state or a vibrant bridge, in today’s heightened geopolitical scenario we have to have good relations with good neighbours,” explains Akanshya Shah. “What is of paramount importance is that our ties are based on the aspirations of the young generation, so that they are engaged.”
Indra Adhikari goes as far as to say that the concepts of “buffer state” and “vibrant bridge” have both failed and Nepal is neither. “We have had zero roles in mediating or de-escalating the tensions between India and China to call ourselves a buffer state. As a vibrant bridge, we cannot facilitate trade of the two countries. The new government should have researched and consulted more before proposing the same outdated and failed foreign policy concepts.”&nbsp;
What will be much more important for Prime Minister Shah is to continue Nepal’s traditional policy of ‘equidistance’ and convince his interlocutors that it is not an anti-Indian stance.&nbsp;
“At a time when there is increased interest of big powers in Nepal, we need to do a bit of our own homework for the systemic reforms we want,” says Akanshya Shah. “As for India, we first need to clearly define what we want on connectivity, energy and culture. But most importantly, we have to capitalise on the goodwill of India which we haven’t been able to in the past.”
Adds Indra Adhikari: “When it comes to fundamental aspects of foreign policy that ensures and enhances the well being of our citizens, national parties should all have one unified voice that doesn’t change when the government does. Only then the future generations can own it.”

Love thy neighbours (and America)

Krishna Bahadur Ramtel was returning home after visiting a temple when his family insisted on climbing the Dharara viewtower in Kathmandu. He climbed up the narrow steep stairs with his mother-in-law and sister-in-law. His wife was nine months pregnant and chose to stay behind. At the top, Ramtel was holding the balcony bars when the tower started swaying at 11:56AM on 25 April 2015. The 62m tall Dharara, built and rebuilt after previous earthquakes, then collapsed into a jumble of bricks and masonry. “I heard screams everywhere, I told my mother-in-law and sister-in-law not to panic,” recalls Ramtel after regaining consciousness on a pile of rubble (pictured, below). Rescuers extricated his legs from under a brick arch and rushed him to the hospital, which was already crowded with patients writhing in pain.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260423120420_76bbf4eefc3b54464f585ac4fac81ac602cc10f7be56871860114724074847bb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260423120420_76bbf4eefc3b54464f585ac4fac81ac602cc10f7be56871860114724074847bb" data-rendition-name="original" width="801" height="399" loading="lazy" alt="Dharara survivor"><figcaption>Photo: KRISHNA BAHADUR RAMTEL / FACEBOOK(Photo: Sonia Awale)</figcaption></figure>  His wife survived, but his in-laws did not. Ramtel was devastated, more so for his wife who was going to be a new mother, but lost two family members. His right leg needed an operation, but he made a complete recovery. His child was born soon after, and Ramtel’s wife had to take care of her baby as well as her injured husband. But tragically, she lacked the help of her mother and sister. The 7.8M earthquake 11 years ago this week killed 8,962 people in Central Nepal. Because it was Saturday, Dharahara Tower was more crowded than usual, and at least 180 bodies were later retrieved from the ruins. Most like Ramtel who miraculously survived were on the balcony, while those climbing or descending the staircase were killed. Built by Prime Minister Bhimsen Thapa in 1832, there were originally two towers. But one collapsed and other was damaged in the 1834 earthquake and rebuilt. Exactly 100 years later, another earthquake brought it down again. It was again restored only to collapse in 2015.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260423120420_25be3e1f9f78a3c08dcf16d5ac6663f8fbb860073d1eaf740c02b8dd18e1ea21.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260423120420_25be3e1f9f78a3c08dcf16d5ac6663f8fbb860073d1eaf740c02b8dd18e1ea21" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Dharara survivor"><figcaption>Photo: ADITYA KHARE(Photo: Aditya Khare)</figcaption></figure>  Only the base of the original tower remains as a memorial inside the Dharahara complex, where a reinforced concrete tower now stands. Dubbed ‘Seto Tower’ by Prime Minister Balendra Shah when he was mayor of Kathmandu is broader than the previous tower and even has a lift that goes up to the viewing deck. But Ramtel says he not going anywhere near Dharara. He says, “That place holds memories that I do not want to remember, but I cannot forget either.” Soon after his operation, Ramtel returned to his hometown in Dhading where more members of the extended clan offered support. But now he lives in Kathmandu with his family, his son is now 11 and he recently had another child.. “Being alive is a blessing. As long as one is living, there will be struggles, and I am ready to face them all,” he tells us.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260423120420_4a205fcd45f87cf1251742f6ed09f447d5f3ff363f1c65c646da46c9c456339d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20260423120420_4a205fcd45f87cf1251742f6ed09f447d5f3ff363f1c65c646da46c9c456339d" data-rendition-name="original" width="640" height="427" loading="lazy" alt="Dharara survivor"><figcaption>Photo: BIKRAM RAI / NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE(Photo: Sonia Awale)</figcaption></figure>  NO PREPAREDNESS While 25 April serves as a reminder of the last major earthquake in Nepal, 16 January is marked annually as Earthquake Safety Day, coinciding with the 8.3M megaquake of 1934. Seismologists say the 7.8M disaster was not the big earthquake that Kathmandu experiences every 80-100 years, and the Big One is yet to hit. Building standards are still regularly flouted in densely populated parts of Kathmandu, which worries Ramtel. “The government acts only after the disaster has happened, people and the authorities forget quickly and move on. There is little preparation, and we expect God to save us,” says Ramtel, who also survived because of divine intervention.

Living to tell the tale

Nepal is experiencing a worrying spread of dengue fever higher up into Himalayan valleys where the mosquito-borne disease was unknown until a few years ago.&nbsp; In 2025, 15 of the country’s 16 high-altitude districts reported infections, marking an unprecedented ascent of the vector and virus over 2,400m. A Tribhuvan University study has confirmed the presence of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes and their larvae, in Jumla (2,438m).&nbsp; In Solu Khumbu district, no systematic scientific research has yet been conducted, but dengue cases have been reported in patients without travel history, suggesting the presence of vectors at the base of Mt Everest as well.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060412_7f9b36514e85af9da5501f83b2d34c7bb12b01ae8e8e00317898938b47cf4544.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260425060412_7f9b36514e85af9da5501f83b2d34c7bb12b01ae8e8e00317898938b47cf4544" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Mosquitos ascend to the base of Mt Everest NT"> <figcaption>Chandannath Municipality, 2,438m, in Jumla is the highest that the dengue-carrying Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitos have been detected.</figcaption> </figure>  Until recently, Aedes mosquitoes had only been detected up to 2,100m. Over the past two years, however, dengue has spread across almost the entire country, affecting 76 of Nepal’s 77 districts in 2024 and 2025.&nbsp; The Epidemiology and Disease Control Division data shows 42,647 people were infected since January 2024, 19 of whom died. But the number of unreported infections is probably much higher. Scientists from the Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC), in collaboration with the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, collected mosquito samples to analyse them and examine how they are adapting to warmer temperatures and &nbsp;resistance to insecticides. The specimens are carefully observed, photographed, and catalogued, allowing researchers to document patterns of survival, distribution, and resistance.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060412_cadd8a73f7f0bff79d174eea921dc6046f3a4f52a0cc34f3d4c2e12a8cc9ce29.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260425060412_cadd8a73f7f0bff79d174eea921dc6046f3a4f52a0cc34f3d4c2e12a8cc9ce29" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Mosquitos ascend to the base of Mt Everest NT"> <figcaption>Santos Pandey, Pratima Bhandari and Sangita Chand examine dengue vector mosquitoes under a microscope at the NHRC laboratory in Kathmandu.The entomology unit uses stereomicroscopes to identify the subtle differences between the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitos. Differences in thoracic markings in the insects helps determine disease risk and guide surveillance and control strategies for dengue and other mosquito-borne illnesses.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060412_48b8ed502a8cc47da9c6e8c6bd856e7961ffc0e804174ff7fb190057a286c7b7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20260425060412_48b8ed502a8cc47da9c6e8c6bd856e7961ffc0e804174ff7fb190057a286c7b7" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Mosquitos ascend to the base of Mt Everest NT"> <figcaption>A female Aedes aegypti mosquito under a microscope. Studying both larvae and adults to detect colour or shape variations may indicate insecticide resistance or adaptation to different altitudes. Each specimen is photographed for analysis and digital archiving.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060412_cdf3ecfc317963e228ab08134300f38d818f394046f085169a2be9f886a134c2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20260425060412_cdf3ecfc317963e228ab08134300f38d818f394046f085169a2be9f886a134c2" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Mosquitos ascend to the base of Mt Everest NT"> <figcaption>Sushila Devi Shah, 38, at the Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital last year. She suffered severe muscle and eye pain, headache, and fever, the main symptoms of dengue. Complications can be serious if untreated.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060412_4a3ada611edf7551f76969b8ab2b7d7482aedacdfaec570c1024851c9bc57ccd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260425060412_4a3ada611edf7551f76969b8ab2b7d7482aedacdfaec570c1024851c9bc57ccd" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Mosquitos ascend to the base of Mt Everest NT"> <figcaption>Shiva Rajbanshi of the NHRC captures mosquitos and larvae in a breeding site. This work helps assess mosquito distribution and guides prevention efforts in areas where rising temperatures allow mosquitoes to survive and proliferate.</figcaption> </figure>  Experts attribute the spread of dengue into Nepal’s mountainous regions primarily to global warming, which creates more favourable conditions for mosquito survival and reproduction, even in areas once considered at low or no risk. The dengue-carrying mosquito mainly bites in the early mornings and evenings when people are out and about. Increased mobility within Nepal with the spreading road network and greater international connectivity have also contributed to circulating the virus. As a result, dengue is reaching Himalayan communities with poor healthcare facilities.&nbsp; In these remote and hard-to-access areas, many residents continue to rely on traditional Tibetan medicine, known as Sowa Rigpa, practiced by traditional Amchi healers who enjoy strong cultural trust and have long served as key healthcare providers within local communities.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060412_fbd0e125f59b7c071a61f700d08f1e37409ecc647afa8ec888c0ed8a7fc991ce.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260425060412_fbd0e125f59b7c071a61f700d08f1e37409ecc647afa8ec888c0ed8a7fc991ce" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1335" loading="lazy" alt="Mosquitos ascend to the base of Mt Everest NT"> <figcaption>Jomsom at 2,743m has seen erratic and extreme weather patterns with dry months becoming drier, and the monsoon seeing intense storms in this arid region. Average temperatures are rising, creating favourable conditions for mosquito-borne diseases. In 2025, nine cases of dengue were reported in Mustang district.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060412_59398ee65a096665bb5c2c82b92de3443809673e6bdbe1405ee92b6886210cb7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20260425060412_59398ee65a096665bb5c2c82b92de3443809673e6bdbe1405ee92b6886210cb7" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Mosquitos ascend to the base of Mt Everest NT"> <figcaption>Khedup Loden Gurung checks a patient’s pulse in a clinic in Jomsom at 2,743m last year. Amchi are traditional Tibetan healers trained in Sowa Rigpa. Diagnosis is based on pulse reading (nad-par), visual examination of urine and tongue, and dialogue with the patient. Because Sowa Rigpa focuses on the individual’s overall energetic state rather than on specific pathogens, there is no direct equivalent to the biomedical concept of ‘dengue’.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060412_421aba7152f520b640016061901108a9b7755e0feff157e7585f4f3fd2eb2ca4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20260425060412_421aba7152f520b640016061901108a9b7755e0feff157e7585f4f3fd2eb2ca4" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Mosquitos ascend to the base of Mt Everest NT"> <figcaption>Handmade Sowa Rigpa herbal remedies crafted using traditional methods. After drying and processing, medicinal plants are ground by hand and combined according to precise traditional formulas. The mixtures are prepared into powders, pills, or pastes using simple tools and manual techniques passed down through generations. Before distribution, the medicines are ritually blessed.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060412_22970174d6ad5a7c192ec43d89eae0a8aed47ed77e9a670d85f1f473ddcfe136.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20260425060412_22970174d6ad5a7c192ec43d89eae0a8aed47ed77e9a670d85f1f473ddcfe136" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Mosquitos ascend to the base of Mt Everest NT"> <figcaption>Khedup Loden Gurung treats a young patient in a clinic in Jomsom. Rooted in Buddhist monastic culture, many amchis approach healing as an act of compassion and service, practicing medicine as a vocation rather than a commercial activity for profit.</figcaption> </figure>  Practiced across the Himalayan region and influenced by Indian Ayurveda and Buddhist philosophy, Sowa Rigpa combines clinical observation, herbal remedies, and a holistic view of health, in which body, mind, environment, and spiritual dimensions are deeply interconnected. To curb the spread of dengue, Nepal’s health authorities have a two-pronged prevention and awareness. Strategy involves using insect repellents and mosquito nets, proper household environmental management, and community campaigns to eliminate stagnant water and strengthen vector surveillance.&nbsp; The goal is to improve the capacity of communities to respond promptly to emerging health threats in a territory increasingly exposed to the impacts of climate change. Vaccines against the two main strains of dengue exist, but they are expensive and have side effects. Prevention and vector management are therefore the primary strategies available to combat dengue.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060412_4ca7d50a4edd99f2ac930a21794a9e9a42d070565bf0fc1d7254405f5bd2e329.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20260425060412_4ca7d50a4edd99f2ac930a21794a9e9a42d070565bf0fc1d7254405f5bd2e329" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Mosquitos ascend to the base of Mt Everest NT"> <figcaption>Solukhumbu District Hospital at Phaplu, 2,413m. Hospitals in these highland areas work under challenging conditions, managing a range of health needs with the resources at hand.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060412_3e51b4047b04ce428a171efc1047a71d2e5cbe1dbf6dfe2738d2c8ac433fee05.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20260425060412_3e51b4047b04ce428a171efc1047a71d2e5cbe1dbf6dfe2738d2c8ac433fee05" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Mosquitos ascend to the base of Mt Everest NT"> <figcaption>Bijay Singh Kushwaha collects sample blood from Nara Maya Khatri, 87, admitted with suspected dengue for a rapid diagnostic test. In recent years, such cases have become more familiar in the region, and the hospital is increasingly accustomed to managing them.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060412_61aa4750bf8948fce4ad2f2c1d80ca6d9849f58827c8232a2c3649c9d4c8b2c0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20260425060412_61aa4750bf8948fce4ad2f2c1d80ca6d9849f58827c8232a2c3649c9d4c8b2c0" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Mosquitos ascend to the base of Mt Everest NT"> <figcaption>Sunita Baral and her team work in the NHRC laboratory.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060412_2742b31fa889984e5c87c41c614a4b9d848fc41095ec1dd70d2b303ec29d8435.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20260425060412_2742b31fa889984e5c87c41c614a4b9d848fc41095ec1dd70d2b303ec29d8435" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Mosquitos ascend to the base of Mt Everest NT"> <figcaption>Pramod Shrestha installing a data logger at an NHRC mosquito breeding site last year to track temperature and humidity in real time — conditions that determine the mosquito life cycle, influencing development, survival, and egg hatching. Certain species including Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, prosper only within narrow climatic ranges, so these measurements help understand how mosquitos adapt to climate change.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060412_09706a1f0d5ea8e7e9f393b770a52e3b34e95e1fc5e01b816e0c39920582faf1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="20260425060412_09706a1f0d5ea8e7e9f393b770a52e3b34e95e1fc5e01b816e0c39920582faf1" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Mosquitos ascend to the base of Mt Everest NT"> <figcaption>Fog in Pokhara Valley moving up the Annapurnas, just as dengue-carrying mosquitoes move up the mountains. Rising temperatures, coupled with unseasonal pre-monsoon downpours provide ideal breeding conditions for dengue-carrying mosquitos. These conditions enable vectors to survive at increasingly higher altitudes. Public awareness and prevention remain key factors to limit the spread of the dengue virus.</figcaption> </figure>  ©2026YuriSegalerba ©YuriSegalerba ©YuriSegalerba©YuriSegalerba

Mosquitos ascend to the base of Mt Everest

Daniel J Miller arrived in Nepal as a Peace Corps Volunteer in 1974, and spent four years in villages above 3,500m, recording the lives of livestock herders.&nbsp; His photographs and ethnographic observations offer a valuable visual documentation of how the lives of Himalayan humans were (and are) intertwined with their yaks, sheep, goats and the ecosystems they shared. Miller later worked for USAID, the Asian Development Bank, World Bank, and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). He travelled across Afghanistan, Bhutan, the Tibetan regions of China, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Nepal, documenting livelihoods of the inhabitants of High Asia.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060420_8c73e8c123a1b4cb9f9dd3a2fe8b4b8f97ac9ad16486651bfe14bba15a903e2a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260425060420_8c73e8c123a1b4cb9f9dd3a2fe8b4b8f97ac9ad16486651bfe14bba15a903e2a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1017" loading="lazy" alt="Rangelands of the Himalayan Range NT"> <figcaption>A fast-moving herd crosses the dry plateau.ICIMOD - All Rights Reserved.</figcaption> </figure>  The Himalaya is not just a high altitude wilderness, it is a living ecosystem that includes grasslands, shrublands, forests, wetlands and a cold desert. These accounts for 60%, about 2 million sq km, of the region.&nbsp; Miller's work captured the essence of this diverse landscape, its pastoralists and their livestock, and communities whose livelihoods depended on seasonal movement across high passes. &nbsp; Miller’s photographs romanticised the rangelands and the nomadic lives of its people, while encapsulating its inherent beauty and resilience. He photographed nomad camps and caravans, documenting seasonal landscape use and migration as herders moved up to summer pastures and down in winter. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060420_ff707c0855b3743a372dbcbde79d4d3ea7e9e56a5cdbb9c188b72c2eb525230d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260425060420_ff707c0855b3743a372dbcbde79d4d3ea7e9e56a5cdbb9c188b72c2eb525230d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1515" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Rangelands of the Himalayan Range NT"> <figcaption>Mounted herders gather on a green alpine slope.ICIMOD - All Rights Reserved.</figcaption> </figure>  Miller wrote in his book Drokpa: Nomads of the Tibetan Plateau and Himalaya: ‘Moving across the grasslands with their animals, their home a tent, nomads evoke freedom.’ His images show a world shaped by indigenous knowledge, vibrant culture, and a harmony between people and their ecosystems.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060420_daa370021ec4fa2c95210154d37ab7f2512a542d6217c158752052b558438bb8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20260425060420_daa370021ec4fa2c95210154d37ab7f2512a542d6217c158752052b558438bb8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1107" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Rangelands of the Himalayan Range NT"> <figcaption>Daniel J Miller with his book.</figcaption> </figure>  CLIMATE CHANGE From the Yunnan mountains to Afghanistan, the Himalayan arc supports the livelihoods of 30 million pastoralists, sustaining a rich bio-cultural diversity. Today, this balance is being disrupted in an unprecedented scale by climate and demographic change.&nbsp; Because crops struggle to grow in this harsh, high terrain, livestock is what sustains mountain communities. For the Drokpa, Bakarwal, Brokpa and Changpa, livestock is their biggest asset. &nbsp; The animals can survive temperature as low as –40°C. But global warming over the last 25 years has severely impacted the herds, weather systems and ecology of the Himalaya.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060420_379bdaf911d92d43e9fea7e460200b85efb32afd4fb72ac70efdeab783208b59.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20260425060420_379bdaf911d92d43e9fea7e460200b85efb32afd4fb72ac70efdeab783208b59" data-rendition-name="original" width="1511" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Rangelands of the Himalayan Range NT"> <figcaption>Sheep spread across a wet meadow showing pastoral livelihoods depend on pockets of fragile forage in high-altitude rangelands.ICIMOD - All Rights Reserved.</figcaption> </figure>  Livestock increasingly suffer respiratory problems, loss of appetite and stress, weakening age-old pastoral systems. The mortality among the animals has increased, forcing herders to seek alternative migration routes and graze animals in unfamiliar and often riskier terrain.&nbsp; What were once well-established pastoral routes are also being disrupted by border controls, protected areas, highways and hydropower plants. Pastoral livelihoods that relied on predictable climatic rhythms are increasingly vulnerable. Wildlife populations are declining, and with them, centuries-old knowledge systems.&nbsp; The gradual loss of rangelands is threatening ways of life that depend on mobility, and intergenerational transmission of pastoral wisdom.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060420_bee79ad2f8c40ab562e184a836194da9b69d85c4f9ecafb93e986dd169738de4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260425060420_bee79ad2f8c40ab562e184a836194da9b69d85c4f9ecafb93e986dd169738de4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1554" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Rangelands of the Himalayan Range NT"> <figcaption>A pastoral camp spreads across the high rangelands, where tents, horses and open pasture show the mobility that has long sustained herding life in the Hindu Kush Himalaya.ICIMOD - All Rights Reserved.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060420_1b0a939b622148631f1aab81f17b0291146baef69eac1bcce635e988104a3f3c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260425060420_1b0a939b622148631f1aab81f17b0291146baef69eac1bcce635e988104a3f3c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1539" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Rangelands of the Himalayan Range NT"> <figcaption>At a seasonal camp, pastoral households stand at the centre of the rangeland, holding together family, livestock, culture, and mobility.ICIMOD - All Rights Reserved.</figcaption> </figure>  Miller’s work reminds us of what it was like in the 1970s, how much things are changing today. His photographs show lush pastures and fluid seasonal movement in regions where grasslands are now turniong into desert, springs are going dry, and extreme weather disrupt long-established migration cycles.&nbsp; Miller’s photographs of caravans and herders are an urgent call for action. They remind us that rangelands are livings sytems, interlinked with human survival, biodiversity and cultural identity. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060420_43067c16b97b0646b37b9bfa52602222a266a849bf8a2870ac628daa44a14c37.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20260425060420_43067c16b97b0646b37b9bfa52602222a266a849bf8a2870ac628daa44a14c37" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1247" loading="lazy" alt="Rangelands of the Himalayan Range NT"> <figcaption>At 72, Miller is ready to ride.</figcaption> </figure>  Often, the burden of these changes falls on women and the elderly. Their traditional skills spinning wool into blankets, weaving hand-knotted carpets, crafting garments, and building yak-hair tents are becoming a lost art. &nbsp; In pastoral kitchens, the craft of preserving raw milk by turning it into chhurpi and ghee is declining with outmigration, water scarcity and warming trends.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260425060420_3fe1b1475afa1708587e7dcaebda539854c855a4d4283c360c2a3befbe98ce3d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20260425060420_3fe1b1475afa1708587e7dcaebda539854c855a4d4283c360c2a3befbe98ce3d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1739" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Rangelands of the Himalayan Range NT"> <figcaption>Goats and sheep are handled in a dusty enclosure, showing the daily labour and care of livestock by pastoralists in harsh terrain.ICIMOD - All Rights Reserved.</figcaption> </figure>  RECOGNISING PASTORIALISM The future of Himalayan rangelands depends on recognising pastoralism not just as an endangered way of life, but &nbsp;a system that must be valued and sustained. This demands innovative approaches that support the people who continue to serve as the custodians of these fragile landscapes.&nbsp; The International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP) 2026 unites global institutions and offers opportunities to recognise the value of rangelands and safeguard them before the loss is permanent.&nbsp; Saurav Thapa Shrestha is a Communications Associate at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu.

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