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Santosh Sharma Poudel

Santosh Sharma Poudel

Santosh Sharma Poudel is a faculty at the Department of International Relations and Diplomacy, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu and a co-founder of Nepal Institute for Policy Research (NIPoRe).

Santosh Sharma Poudel is foreign policy analyst and co-founder of Nepal Institute for Policy Research (NIPoRe). He leads the National Security and Foreign Affairs cluster at NIPoRe. He is also a faculty at Department of International Relations and Diplomacy (DIRD), Tribhuvan Unviersity. He writes on Nepali foreign and security policy and regional order regularly in Nepali newspapers and magazines. Besides Nepal, his areas of interest are South Asian regional order, China’s rise, and security in the Asia-Pacific.

He advises and conducts research for Institute for Foreign Affairs (IFA), a semi-autonomous research institute of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nepal.

He received his Bachelors from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan and Master’s from S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University. He was awarded the ST Engineering Gold Medal at for his excellence at RSIS and Nepal Bidhyabhusan (Kha) from the Government of Nepal.

Posts by Santosh Sharma Poudel
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August 28, 2023

Himalayan Risks and Ethical Choices Dog Mountaineering Efforts

By Santosh Sharma Poudel
People are crowding Sagarmatha and other Himalayan peaks, risking their own lives and those of Sherpas, porters and rescue teams.
August 15, 2023

China’s Problem With Nepal

By Santosh Sharma Poudel
Beijing is frustrated with the lack of progress in Nepal’s implementation of Belt and Road projects. But rhetorical bullying of its small neighbor won’t help.

July 31, 2023

Why Nepal Needs to Debate the Role of Its Army

By Santosh Sharma Poudel
When political leaders commented recently about the need to rightsize the Nepal armed forces, former army chiefs and others bristled.

July 21, 2023

High-level Visits Increase Ahead of Nepali PM Dahal’s Visit to China

By Santosh Sharma Poudel
Beijing is apprehensive that Nepal will allow itself to be used by third countries -- the U.S. -- against Chinese interests.

June 28, 2023

Bollywood Movie Dialogue Riles Nepal’s Nationalists

By Santosh Sharma Poudel
The film ‘Adipurush’ refers to Sita, who is believed to have been born in Nepal, as ‘India’s daughter.’
June 05, 2023

Nepali PM Dahal’s Delhi Visit Produces Key Deals

By Santosh Sharma Poudel
However, he did not discuss issues of importance to Nepal with PM Modi, such as Gurkha recruitment.

May 30, 2023

Bhutanese Refugee Scam Rocks Nepal – Part 2

By Santosh Sharma Poudel
The conclusion of a two-part series on the fraudulent certification of Nepali citizens as Bhutanese refugees examines the domestic and foreign implications of the scandal.
May 28, 2023

Bhutanese Refugee Scam Rocks Nepal

By Santosh Sharma Poudel
Part one of a two-part series examines how Nepal’s political leaders fraudulently certified Nepali citizens as Bhutanese refugees to send them to the United States.

April 27, 2023

Nepal Is Inching Toward Realizing Its Cricketing Dreams

By Santosh Sharma Poudel
The Nepali people revere their cricketing team. Will the latter power its way to play in the Asia Cup in September?

April 18, 2023

Why Nepal PM’s Delhi Visit Was Delayed

By Santosh Sharma Poudel
Dahal’s preoccupation with the survival of his government was one reason for the delay. But also, India may not have wanted to engage with a shaky PM.

March 06, 2023

Nepal’s New PM Dahal Switches Partners

By Santosh Sharma Poudel
With the CPN-UML pulling out support for the 2-month-old government, Dahal has joined forces with his old ally, the Nepali Congress.
February 13, 2023

US Steps Up Its Courting of Nepal

By Santosh Sharma Poudel
Nepali Prime Minister Dahal is close to China but is known to be flexible. Will Washington’s wooing impress him?

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