Larryhirsch's Fotothing

NEPAL KATHMANDU
photography by
larry hirsch Jan24/2009
Nepal has fewer immediate problems abroad. Relations with India, which reached crisis point during the mid-1990s, when the Indians imposed a trade embargo, have since improved. Outstanding border disputes have been settled (as with the Makhali River basin) or are in abeyance. Relations with Nepal�s other large neighbor, China, have also been good. Nepal is still coping with up to 100,000 refugees who crossed the border from its third immediate neighbor, Bhutan, to escape political strife in their own country. But all of Nepal�s neighbors are concerned about the consequences of the widening insurgency and the possible fall-out. King Gyanendra may have severely hampered relations with his neighbors by his recent actions and it remains to be seen how the issue will be resolved.