Kathmandu, May 2 -- Experts have emphasised an urgent need for Nepal to diversify its economic diplomacy beyond India and China, and to go further than its traditional focus on tourism and hydropower, in the country's pursuit of sustainable economic development.

"Nepal suffers a triple deficit with India-trade, remittance, and capital. Nepalis working in India earn less than Nepal's per capita income, while Indians working here earn more than their own per capita income. The same applies to China," said Biswash Gauchan, executive director of the Institute for Integrated Development Studies, speaking at an interaction in Kathmandu on Friday.

He pointed out that although India allocates a budget for Nepal each year, only 24 percent of it ...