Nepal, June 10 -- It is common for Indian and Nepali citizens to travel to third countries using airports in Nepal or India, but doing so without fulfilling certain formal requirements is unusual. While Nepalis frequently use Indian airports for international travel, Indian citizens have long used Nepal's Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) to reach third countries by obtaining a 'No Objection Certificate' (NOC) from the Immigration Office.

From the tenure of Ram Bahadur Thapa to that of Ramesh Lekhak, a total of 75,876 Indian citizens travelled to third countries via TIA. According to Immigration Office data, Indian citizens frequently used TIA to travel abroad during the terms of five Home Ministers-sometimes bypassing regulations se...