Publication

This paper examines the impact of illicit trading in Nepal on the South Asian terrorist threat. The author argues that illicit trading in the Terai region of Nepal provides the funding base for many South Asian terrorist groups, particularly Lashkar-e-Taiba in India. The trade, he argues, continues to thrive because legal loopholes and governance failures in Nepal have not been addressed as the Terai region remains lawless and corrupt. The author suggests that bilateral India-Nepal relations need to be improved, Nepali legal structured strengthened and international donors engaged in a reform process in order to quell the trade.