India is worried…what are the spies of Pakistan and China doing in Nepal, Kathmandu has become a base for CIA, ISI, MI6 agents?

New Delhi: On November 22, 1979, the news was published in Washington Post, a prestigious American newspaper. Its title was – ‘Who was the CIA informer in Indira Gandhi cabinet’. Before this article, Thomas Powers had written in his/her biography of CIA chief Richard Helms ‘The Man Who Kept the Secrets’ that in 1971 there was a CIA agent in Indira Gandhi’s cabinet. In fact, since the 1970s, the American intelligence agency CIA has been trying to establish its presence in the Indian government. This secret agency used to have another location – Nepal, a small country surrounded by the Himalayan mountains.
After this, in May 1998, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee government was at the Centre, India conducted nuclear test in Pokhran, about which America was not even aware. The American agents present in India and Nepal were heavily criticized for this matter. he/she was considered a failure because he/she could not warn America about this in advance. Let us know the story of Nepal becoming a stronghold of secret agents, which can be a matter of tension for India.

Nepal becomes a base of spies, center of fake currency

The Himalayan state of Nepal, strategically located between India and China, is a safe haven for international espionage, intelligence gathering as well as illegal activities like money laundering, smuggling and counterfeit currency. It is quite common for field operatives or agents of friendly and enemy countries to play hide and seek with each other in Kathmandu.

Why is Nepal a safe haven for such intelligence agencies?

Nepal’s borders are open at many places. Furthermore, it has geographical proximity to China. This makes Nepal an ideal place for the intelligence agencies of Western and Eastern countries to establish their networks and carry out their espionage activities. There are reports of agents of Britain’s MI6, America’s CIA, Pakistan’s ISI, China’s MSS, Russia’s KGB and India’s RAW being present here. However, the most infamous is the ISI, whose agents are believed to be present here in large numbers.

There are more secret agents from the world in Nepal than people.

Lucky Bisht, a former agent of the Indian intelligence agency RAW, has said in an interview to presswire18 Times that Nepal is currently a bigger threat to India than Pakistan and China. There are so many agents of the world’s secret services in Nepal that it seems that there are less people living in Nepal and more agents of secret services.

ISI uses Nepal for anti-India activities

As early as February 2000, the then Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, while speaking in the Parliament, had said that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government was aware of the misuse of Nepal and Bangladesh against India by Pakistan’s intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Is and is worried. The issue related to curbing ISI activities in Nepal has also been raised at higher level.

Nepal becomes geopolitical battlefield

According to a study by EFSAS, Nepal’s geopolitical importance, strategic location between India and China, as well as proximity to Tibet and relatively weak security infrastructure make it an ideal ground for secret missions on behalf of global powers. In recent years, Nepal has attempted to deal with the complex web of foreign influence by adopting a more balanced foreign policy. The government has sought to strengthen its intelligence agencies, improve border security, and reduce its dependence on any single foreign power. However, given the ongoing geopolitical competition in the region, it is likely that Nepal will remain the focus of international espionage for the foreseeable future.

Movement of Khalistani terrorists through Nepal

According to EFSAS, the ISI began using Nepal as a second front to target India through terrorists in the mid-1980s and continues to this day. Nepal was used as a base for the movement of Khalistani terrorists from India. The ISI played a key role in smuggling huge quantities of explosives, weapons and counterfeit currency into India until the mid-1990s.

ISI activities increased rapidly in Nepal in the 1990s

US cables released by WikiLeaks in 2011 included a US government report that highlighted ISI’s use of Nepal to facilitate and carry out terrorist acts against India. One such cable, issued on July 8, 1997, signed by the then US Ambassador to India Frank Wisner, claimed that before Pakistani terrorists hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814 in 1999, the ISI had warned Nepal against anti-India Had made it a center of terrorist activities.

Pak terrorist used to do carpet business in Kathmandu

The cable revealed that one such organization created by the ISI in Pakistan was the Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front (JKIF), which had a strong base in Kathmandu. The US Ambassador had said that JKIF leader Javed Krawah himself ran a carpet business in Kathmandu. he/she further revealed that JKIF was controlled from Pakistan by ISI and Tiger Memon, the main accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts.

ISI was involved in the hijacking of IC-814 aircraft

The hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 from Kathmandu to New Delhi on 24 December 1999 proved to be the turning point, which exposed the toxic activities of ISI in Nepal to the world. The plane was eventually taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan after being stopped by the hijackers in Amritsar, Lahore in Pakistan and Dubai in the UAE. After the plane landed in Kandahar, two senior ISI officials also reached there.

These three terrorists were forced to leave

By the time the plane reached Kandahar, the hijackers had stabbed one passenger to death, while 26 people were left behind in Dubai. The choice of Kandahar was a conscious decision, as it was the stronghold of the Afghan Taliban, who were in power in Afghanistan at that time. After a week-long standoff, India fulfilled the kidnapper’s demand to release three dreaded terrorists Maulana Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar. After this, the hostages on board the plane were released on 31 December 1999.

Nepal troubled by increasing Chinese spies in Nepal

Ever since China’s Belt and Road Initiative or BRI was launched, it has been mainly focusing on infrastructure projects. However, China’s aggressive economic monopolistic ambitions have created more problems for Nepal. Nepal shares two border points with China. Along with this, an increase in the presence of Chinese citizens has also been seen in Nepal. Since 2014-15, there has been a rapid increase in Chinese funded projects. It is believed that these Chinese citizens work as spies for China in Nepal. Nepal itself is troubled by this, but the political leadership there is more influenced by China.

Chinese spy was trying to enter India

In July last year, a Chinese citizen who crossed the India-Nepal border and entered Siliguri, West Bengal, was arrested. As soon as this incident came to light, the matter gained momentum. The suspect has been identified as 39-year-old Yongxin Peng, who used to spy for China.