Turmoil in Nepal Revives Suspicions of U.S. Involvement

Declassified files and eyewitness accounts suggest a long-standing US presence in Nepal

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

Nepal's fragile democracy has again been jolted by the overthrow of an elected government, a rupture that many here suspect carried Washington's quiet approval.

The charge may be politically useful, but it isn't baseless. Declassified U.S. records and historical testimony that the Sunday Guardian went through make clear that the United States has repeatedly used Nepal as a stage for its covert battles — first against China during the Cold War, later under the "war on terror."

The paper trail is undeniable. A once-secret memorandum prepared for President Nixon's covert action committee in January 1971 detailed CIA "Tibetan operations," including propaganda, intelligence, and paramilitary activity run out of India and Nepal.

The memo acknowledged CIA-trained Tibetan radio teams operating along Nepal's northern border, in direct radio contact with a paramilitary force based in Mustang Valley. This force, armed and guided by the CIA since the early 1960s, launched cross-border raids into Chinese-controlled Tibet. The program was formally endorsed by Henry Kissinger and top State Department officials on 31 March 1971.