No Role of India in Stopping Nepali Citizen from Traveling to Berlin: MHA

PTI, NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 1, 2025 :  The Indian immigration authorities had no role in stopping a Nepali citizen at Delhi's IGI Airport from traveling to Berlin, Germany. It was the airline concerned that did not allow the passenger to board the aircraft due to her visa validity, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) clarified on Saturday.

In a statement, the MHA said it had been reported that Shambhavi Adhikari, a Nepali citizen heading to Berlin, was stopped at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport and sent back to Kathmandu. “The incident has been wrongly portrayed as bias/discrimination against Nepali citizens. It is to clarify that the Indian immigration authorities have no role to play in this entire episode,” the statement said.

The passenger arrived from Kathmandu on an Air India flight and was transiting through Delhi. She was stopped while boarding the connecting Qatar Airways flight, and it was the airline that decided not to let her undertake her onward travel to Germany due to her visa validity. The airline subsequently flew her back to Kathmandu.

Such matters are usually handled in accordance with the destination country’s rules and requirements. The traveler later rescheduled her travel and took another route from Kathmandu to Berlin.

The MHA further stated that international transit passengers are not required to approach Indian immigration authorities for their onward journey, as it is a matter between the airlines and the passenger, with no involvement of Indian immigration authorities.

“India values its strong relationship with Nepal and reassures that no Indian authority has any bias or discrimination against citizens of Nepal,” the MHA statement concluded.