Indian intelligence agencies have raised serious alarm over the growing footprint of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Nepal, warning that the Himalayan nation may soon become a new front in the region’s long-running proxy conflict. The development is being viewed as part of a larger strategic push by Pakistan to undermine Indian interests using religious, cultural and covert means.
One of the key concerns flagged by Indian agencies is the construction of the Razzak Mosque in Inarwa, near Nepal’s Biratnagar in Sunsari district—just kilometres from the Indo-Nepal border. The mosque is being developed by the Alhaj Shamshul Haque Foundation (Ash Foundation), an NGO registered in Bangladesh in 2022. Intelligence inputs indicate that the mosque may double as a covert base for ISI-backed activities.
According to an officer from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the Foundation’s chairman, Muhammad Nasir Uddin, laid the foundation stone on July 18, declaring it a “spiritual and communal centre” aimed at Islamic outreach among Nepal’s majority non-Muslim population in the area.
However, Indian agencies suspect that behind the religious facade lies a deeper strategy of radicalisation, intelligence gathering and recruitment for anti-India operations.
Religious infrastructure as cover for extremist networks
A senior intelligence official warned that ISI has a history of using mosques, madrasas and cultural centres as logistical hubs for its covert missions—both in South Asia and beyond. “What they did in parts of Africa and Southeast Asia, they are now doing in Nepal. These so-called religious centres become bases for espionage, ideological indoctrination, and channeling terror funds,” the IB official said.
The Ash Foundation has appealed for global donations to replicate such centres across Nepal and other neighbouring countries. Investigations point toward financial backing from ISI-linked networks and additional aid from Gulf countries and Turkey.
Nepal: The new transit route for terror networks?
Indian security agencies have long suspected Nepal as a transit route for terrorists attempting to infiltrate India. The relatively porous border and lax surveillance make it an attractive corridor for ISI operatives and jihadist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
In a recent seminar organised by the Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement (NIICE) on July 9, Sunil Bahadur Thapa, advisor to the President of Nepal, voiced similar concerns. He highlighted the potential misuse of Nepali territory by outlawed terror groups and stressed the need for vigilance and cooperation.
Bangladesh shift seen as strategic booster for ISI
Indian agencies believe that political shifts in Bangladesh, especially with interim government’s advisor Muhammad Yunus—reportedly backed by Jamaat-e-Islami—coming to power, are giving the ISI a freer hand in operating across South Asia. With the exit of Sheikh Hasina, who maintained close ties with New Delhi and cracked down on Islamist groups, Pakistan is moving fast to fortify its proxies in Bangladesh and Nepal, Indian officials allege.
Apart from security risks, Indian officials are also alarmed by what they term “coordinated demographic engineering” in Nepal. “There is a deliberate attempt to shift the religious balance by planting radical elements in a Hindu-majority country,” an MEA official said, adding, “This is not just about Nepal—it is an effort to destabilise India’s borders and turn peaceful neighbourhoods into extremist strongholds.”
India urges swift regional response
With growing signs of covert infrastructure development, foreign-backed radicalisation, and proxy terror networks being seeded, Indian intelligence is pushing for urgent diplomatic engagement with Nepal and stronger regional counter-terror frameworks. Officials stress that Nepal must not become another front in Pakistan’s proxy war blueprint.
As tensions quietly rise in the backdrop of Himalayan calm, the region stands at a critical juncture—between preserving its peace and falling into the grip of a calculated ideological conflict.