Indian intelligence agencies have raised serious concerns over Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) expanding its covert operations into Nepal, warning that the Himalayan nation could become a fresh front in the region’s complex proxy conflict landscape.
Latest intelligence assessments indicate a growing ISI footprint in Nepal, marked by increasing infiltration, radicalisation, and the development of covert infrastructure along the Indo-Nepal border.
Officials believe the ISI is replicating strategies used in Bangladesh and other regions by leveraging religious and cultural initiatives to establish a base for anti-India activity. “The most recent example is the construction of the Razzak Mosque in Inarwa, near Nepal’s Biratnagar in Sunsari district. The mosque is being built by the Alhaj Shamshul Haque Foundation, also known as the Ash Foundation, which was registered in Bangladesh as an NGO in 2022,” said an officer of the Intelligence Bureau (IB).
Indian agencies are particularly concerned about the Foundation’s chairman, Muhammad Nasir Uddin, who laid the foundation stone on July 18 and described the project as a “spiritual and communal centre” aimed at promoting Islamic outreach among Nepal’s predominantly non-Muslim population.
According to intelligence sources, the mosque, while publicly framed as a religious site, may serve as a logistical and strategic base for ISI-backed activities. Investigations suggest the initiative is covertly funded by ISI-linked networks, with additional financial support reportedly coming from sources in Gulf nations and Turkey.
“The ISI’s tactic of using religious infrastructure to mask intelligence and extremist operations is not new,” a senior Indian intelligence official stated. “They are following the same playbook used in regions across Africa and Southeast Asia, create religious centres that act as hubs for radicalisation, intelligence-gathering and recruitment,” he explained.
The Ash Foundation is also reported to be soliciting global donations to fund similar religious and cultural projects across Nepal and neighbouring countries, an effort Indian agencies believe may be a front for establishing a broader transnational jihadist network.
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These developments coincide with recent political changes in Bangladesh, where the new regime under Jamaat-e-Islami-backed Muhammad Yunus is seen as enabling increased operational latitude for Pakistan. Following the departure of Sheikh Hasina, Indian agencies believe ISI is accelerating efforts to transform both Bangladesh and Nepal into strategic hubs for operations targeting India.
Intelligence inputs suggest that Nepal, in recent years, has increasingly functioned as a transit corridor for terrorists entering India and as a sanctuary for operatives evading surveillance.
During a seminar organised by the Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement (NIICE) in Kathmandu on 9 July, Sunil Bahadur Thapa, advisor to the President of Nepal, voiced grave concerns about the presence of outlawed outfits such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), saying they pose risks to India and could be using Nepal as a transit route.
Indian officials have now issued red flags over what they describe as a calculated attempt to alter Nepal’s religious demography, an operation that may incite communal unrest and destabilise regional peace.
“There is a clear effort to undermine a Hindu-majority nation by planting radical influence,” said an officer of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), adding, “This is not just about Nepal, it’s about destabilising India’s borders by converting peaceful areas into launchpads for extremist activity.”
With what intelligence agencies describe as coordinated demographic engineering underway, Indian officials are pressing for urgent diplomatic engagement and robust regional cooperation to prevent Nepal from becoming another theatre in the long-running proxy war.
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