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NepalTHE SECURITY ENVIRONMENT, NEPAL
Throughout its modern existence, Nepalese foreign
policy
architects and defense planners have had to perform a
precarious
balancing act to ensure the nation's survival. As a
protective
measure, foreign troops were not allowed to be based in
Nepal. This
restriction remained in force as of 1991. Neither China
nor India
harbored territorial ambitions in Nepal; indeed, unlike
many other
land boundaries in South Asia, Nepal's frontiers were
regarded by
India and China as valid international boundaries. Nor did
Nepal
possess any natural resources or other economic assets
that were
coveted by either neighbor. Nevertheless, the country's
geostrategic position between China's restive Tibetan
population
and the Indian heartland placed it in a vulnerable
position.
Terrain, weather, and logistic considerations presented
special
problems for defense planners and for any foreign forces
that might
have to operate in the country. Ground units had to be
equipped to cope with climatic extremes of monsoonal rains
and
drought as well as jungle heat and high-altitude cold.
Nepal's
terrain ranged from the world's highest and most deeply
gorged
mountains to the swamps and dense jungles of the Tarai
(see The Land
, ch. 2). Troops operating in Nepal had ample cover,
but crosscountry movement was extremely difficult. The use of motor
transport--often in short supply in the Nepalese army--was
impractical except for the short stretches where roads
existed.
Further, many roads and bridges were unsuitable for heavy
military
vehicles. In the higher elevations, supplies were moved by
pack
animals or human porters. Throughout the country, the
terrain lent
itself to the ambush and hit-and-run tactics that Nepalese
units
would employ during a partisan struggle. Thus, local
inhabitants
familiar with the countryside and accustomed to its severe
climatic
conditions would have a decided tactical advantage over
invading
forces.
In the lowlands, ground movement was virtually
impossible
during the wet season because of extensive flooding,
washed-out
bridges, and deep mud. In the mountains, troops had to
march single
file over precarious trails subject to washouts,
landslides,
avalanches of boulders, ice, and snow. Stream crossing
points often
were limited to fords and unstable suspension bridges.
Supply drops
by helicopters and airplanes--both critically short in the
Nepalese
army--could be made only in favorable weather and in the
restricted
areas accessible to troops. Tribhuvan International
Airport outside
Kathmandu was the country's only airfield with sufficient
capacity
for large-scale military airlift and resupply operations.
The
airport's refueling capacity and aircraft maintenance
facilities
were marginal, however. Only five of Nepal's thirty-eight
airfields
had permanent-surface runways.
Tropical diseases, such as malaria, and the danger of
suffering
pulmonary edema and frostbite during high-altitude
operations
further inhibited force sustainability. Medical equipment
and
supplies, most of which were imported from India, also
were in
short supply. Water supplies, although usually available
in all but
the most mountainous regions, often were contaminated and
unfit for
human consumption unless treated. Although army medical
services
were adequate for routine peacetime health care of
soldiers and
their families, sustained combat operations probably would
overwhelm the country's underdeveloped health services.
The army's
premier medical facility, Birendra Hospital, was located
in
Kathmandu. As food production in most areas was barely
sufficient
to support the local population, wartime destruction of
the
agricultural infrastructure, particularly in the fertile
Kathmandu
Valley, would be likely to result in shortages and famine
unless
India or other foreign donors provided immediate emergency
relief.
Data as of September 1991
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