India, May 16 -- It is an everyday story of tens of thousands of Nepalis in the Terai plains. Countless numbers cross the open border - for work, shopping, tourism (including medical tourism), to meet family members, for pilgrimage and for many more reasons.

One of the 26 killed in the terror attack in Pahalgam on April 22 was a young Nepali. A resident of Rupandehi district on the border with Uttar Pradesh, Sudip Neupane had travelled with his sister and brother-in-law to Kashmir on a 'spontaneous' visit. Butwal, his home town, is only six hours away from Lucknow, four hours from Ayodhya and three hours from Gorakhpur.

Nepal unequivocally condemned the attack. Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the...