Nepal Issues - 2024

Disputes - international

Nepal-China: China may have constructed 11 buildings in Nepal’s Humla region in 2021

Nepal-India: joint border commission continues to work on contested sections of boundary with India, including the 400 sq km dispute over the source of the Kalapani River; the Kalapani issue resurfaced in November 2019 when India issued a new map showing the contested area within India’s borders and then built a new road in the region through Lipulekh pass, an area controlled by India but claimed by Nepal; Nepal countered by amending its constitution and issuing its own map showing the disputed area within its borders; the countries prime ministers briefly discussed the border dispute in April 2022; India has instituted a stricter border regime to restrict transit of illegal cross-border activities

Refugees and internally displaced persons

refugees (country of origin): 12,540 (Tibet/China), 6,365 (Bhutan) (mid-year 2022)

stateless persons: undetermined (mid-year 2021)

Illicit drugs

illicit producer of cannabis and hashish for the domestic and international drug markets; transit point for opiates from Southeast Asia to the West; destination country for Indian-produced heroin smuggled in for domestic consumption