Spotlight is on ISI as Home secretary goes on Nepal visit

Spotlight is on ISI as Home secretary goes on Nepal visit
AJAY SURI

NEW DELHI, JULY 4: Union Home Secretary Kamal Pandey's four-day visit to Nepal beginning tomorrow has, as expected, put the focus back on heightened attempts by Pakistan to utilise the Himalayan Kingdom for its anti-India activities. The fact that it'll be the first visit by a seniormost Indian official in the post-hijacking phase will do little to erase the memories. Sources in the North Block say that on the contrary, as far as Nepal's effort to rein in Pakistan activists is concerned, the situation has only deteriorated in recent months.

The mushrooming of madarsas on the Nepal border ISI is believed to have free access to the so-called ``educational institutes'' is one of the areas of primary concern to India. Official say that at last count, as many as 50 such madrasas were operating.

Not only do ISI agents reportedly remain holed up in these madrasas for prolonged periods but also it is being held that the premises are at times used to store ammunition and narcotics which are eventually pushed across the border. A senior North Block official said: ``We have already expressed our concern to the Nepal government about the misuse of these madrasas. Hopefully, a solution will be found during Pandey's talks with Nepal authorities in Kathmandu.'' Another area where India wants active cooperation from its Himalayan neighbour concerns the virtually unchecked spread of fake currency into the country. Security agencies maintain that Pakistan has been consistently using Nepal as a base to smuggle the currency into India.

Apart from a few officials of the Home Ministry and security agencies, a joint secretary with the External Affairs Ministry would be accompanying Pandey. The last Home Secretary-level talks between the two countries took place in New Delhi in June, 1998. During Pandey's visit, the air-travel security scenario between India and Nepal will also be reviewed. Flight IC-814 is something not many in Nepal are apt to forget in a hurry.