JeM, LeT could use Nepal as transit route to target India, warns top Nepalese official

Minendra Rijal, a former defence minister, said Islamabad's support to these proxy groups has crippled the SAARC and the region, causing economic losses for not just India and Nepal, but also Pakistan 

The Week   |  July 11, 2025 :  Two months after India destroyed key terror launchpads in Pakistan and Pak-occupied Kashmir during Operation Sindoor, a top Nepalese official has warned that terrorists could carry out attacks from Nepal.

Sunil Bahadur Thapa, adviser to the Nepalese president, said Pakistan-sponsored terrorist groups like Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) could use Nepal as a transit route to target India. He was speaking at a discussion on the topic "Terrorism in South Asia: Challenges to Regional Peace and Security", conducted by the Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement in Kathmandu on Wednesday, according to The Kathmandu Post.

It should be noted that India has an open border with Nepal with a visa-free regime.

Rastriya Swatantra Party legislator Shisir Khanal said that in the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack, it is important for India and Nepal to jointly bolster border management and surveillance, invest in modern surveillance technology, and ensure that terrorists cannot circumvent the well-equipped checkpoints. He also urged to deepen intelligence sharing and set up a unified, real-time intelligence hub, besides continuous coordination between border security forces and regular joint counter-terrorism operations.

Minendra Rijal, a former defence minister, said Islamabad’s support to these proxy groups has crippled the SAARC and the region, causing economic losses for not just India and Nepal, but also Pakistan. He noted that the terror attacks in India lead to spillover effects on Nepal.

The remarks come as the 26 civilians killed in the deadly Pahalgam attack on April 22 included a Nepalese tourist. The attack was carried out by The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the LeT.

A week after Operation Sindoor, on May 18, the head of the LeT Nepal module was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the Badin district of Sindh, Pakistan.

Several terror-related incidents have been reported in Nepal, posing risks to Indian security. In May 2017, a Pakistani terrorist was arrested by Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) from Sonauli, Maharajganj, on the Nepal border. SSB is tasked with checking infiltration on the Nepal border.

The 1999 IC 814 incident saw an Indian Airlines flight taking off from Kathmandu getting hijacked after it entered Indian airspace.