'Nepal’s access to Indian Ocean through India effectively makes it a virtual maritime country'

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s access to the Indian Ocean through India effectively makes it a 'virtual maritime country', Sumitra Karki, director of the Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement (NIICE), said.

Speaking at Thematic Session-2 on Maritime Laws and Governance at the 9th Indian Ocean Conference, held from April 10 to 12, Karki highlighted Nepal’s position as a landlocked nation that nonetheless depends heavily on sea routes for international trade. She noted that Nepal maintains an open, porous and largely unregulated border with India, allowing Nepali citizens to travel without visas or passports. “This ease of movement enables Nepal to access the Indian Ocean through Indian territory,” she said, calling Nepal a 'virtual maritime country.'

Karki underlined the strategic and economic importance of the Indian Ocean for Nepal, pointing out that a significant portion of the country’s imports and exports transit through Indian ports, particularly Kolkata and Visakhapatnam. She said stability and cooperative governance in the Indian Ocean region are therefore vital to Nepal’s economic security.

Reiterating Nepal’s foreign policy stance, Karki said the country seeks to preserve strategic autonomy and avoid being drawn into geopolitical rivalries. “Nepal does not seek to be drawn into geopolitical rivalries and instead prioritises economic cooperation over military or strategic alignments,” she said.

Karki also outlined NIICE’s growing engagement with Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific affairs. She said NIICE is the only think tank in Nepal with a dedicated Centre for Indo-Pacific Affairs and has hosted more than 50 discussions on regional dynamics. NIICE’s contribution to policy debate includes the publication Nepal’s Outlook to the Indo-Pacific, released five years ago, and the institute’s flagship event, the Indo-Pacific Future Forum, which most recently carried the theme 'Connecting Saagar to Sagar,' symbolically linking the Indo-Pacific region (Saagar) with Sagarmatha (Sagar).

On the sidelines of the conference, Karki held meetings with Navinchandra Ramgoolam, prime minister of Mauritius; Shishir Khanal, foreign minister of Nepal; Indra Mani Pande, secretary general of BIMSTEC; and Periasamy Kumaran, secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, India. She also met Ram Madhav, Pankaj Saran, Anil Trinugayat, Dhruv C. Katoch and Anil Golani, among other dignitaries attending the conference.