Kathmandu, June 27 -- Ukraine. Sudan. Gaza. Iran. This may not seem like a world war, but we are getting dangerously close to one.

Here in Nepal, we may think we are far removed from it all, but there are about 2 million Nepalis in Israel and the Gulf states, and an escalation would devastate our remittance-driven economy.

The Israeli attacks on Bandar Abbas and Iran's threat to mine the Strait of Hormuz, set off some panic buying at petrol stations in Kathmandu this week. Petroleum makes up a quarter of Nepal's import bill.

Ten Nepalis were killed in the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, and one is still held hostage in Gaza. Nepali soldiers in the Russian Army are fighting and getting killed on the Ukraine front.

There are Nepali g...