Archive · 16 Aug 2026
ISI accused of fuelling radicalisation in Nepal; India on high alert
India is watching very carefully what is happening in Nepal, a country next to it.
Indian security officers think a foreign spy agency called the ISI might be causing problems in Nepal.
They believe the agency is trying to change the kinds of people who live in parts of Nepal and make some communities angry at each other.
In July, there was a fight between two groups of people in Nepal that worried Indian officials.
India and Nepal share a long, open border, so trouble in Nepal could also cause trouble in India.
Officers say this part of Nepal, called the Terai, has had several fights between Hindu and Muslim neighbours in the last year.
They worry these fights could spread over the border into India.
The officers also say the same spy agency has used Nepal as a secret path for moving dangerous people into India in the past.
Indian agents are now keeping a very close eye on what happens in Nepal so they can stay safe.
Indian security agencies are on high alert following intelligence reports that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is allegedly orchestrating demographic changes and radicalisation in Nepal's border areas.
A communal clash reported in Nepal in July has raised concerns that it may be part of a wider pattern, officials said.
An Intelligence Bureau official said Nepal has long been used as a transit route by Pakistan's spy agency to move terrorists into India.
Officials claimed the Terai region bordering India has seen repeated communal clashes between Hindu and Muslim communities over the last year.
Officials alleged the ISI has invested substantial resources in radicalisation programmes in the region, including a rise in Wahhabi-related activity.
- Who
- Indian security agencies, including the Intelligence Bureau, and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)
- What
- Intelligence reports allege ISI is orchestrating demographic changes and radicalisation in Nepal's border areas, prompting a high alert in India
- When
- Following a communal clash reported in Nepal in July; within the last year in the Terai region
- Where
- Nepal, particularly the Terai region bordering India, and India's open border
- Why
- Officials fear communal violence and radicalisation in Nepal could spill over into India and destabilise its security
Sceptics / Concerned About Unverified Claims
Indian Security Establishment
Nature of the allegations
Sceptics / Concerned About Unverified Claims
The allegations rest on anonymous official claims of a 'sustained campaign' and are not supported by publicly presented evidence; demographic change and religious conversion rates are asserted rather than demonstrated.
Indian Security Establishment
Intelligence officials state with concern that ISI has invested substantial resources in radicalisation and that rapid demographic change in Nepal is a genuine, worrisome security pattern linked to rising communal violence.
Cause of communal clashes
Sceptics / Concerned About Unverified Claims
Clashes between Hindu and Muslim communities in the Terai could stem from local social, political or economic tensions rather than any coordinated foreign plot.
Indian Security Establishment
Officials allege the repeated communal incidents in the Terai over the past year form a pattern not seen earlier, orchestrated by ISI to alter Nepal's demographic and communal landscape.
- Reporting agency
- Intelligence Bureau (India)
- Alleged actor
- Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)
- Region of concern
- Terai region of Nepal bordering India
- Incident cited
- Communal clash in Nepal in July
- Communal clashes timeframe
- Multiple clashes over the last one year
- Alleged activities
- Demographic change, radicalisation programmes, Wahhabi-related activity
- Alleged pattern
- Nepal used as transit route for moving terrorists into India
- Security status
- India on high alert