Nepal in a bind as US-China drone war reaches Everest

China’s DJI FlyCart 100 carrying loads to Camp I from Everest Base camp [Courtesy of Milan Pandey]

Analysts say the US and China are placing Nepal in a potentially precarious position by using its terrain as a place to test sensitive technology. They say being caught in the middle of the rivalry between the superpowers is a “tricky position” for Nepal.

“The fact that Nepalese officials have already flip-flopped their decision based on pressure from Beijing and Washington demonstrates how potentially fraught such a situation can be,” Steven Feldstein, senior fellow at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Al Jazeera. “Given how critical a role drones are playing in the security landscape, this only ratchets up the stakes further.”

Tussle before climbing season

The denial of permission to the US team came as the annual Everest climbing season began.

On Wednesday, a 12-member team of Nepalese climbers reached the summit to clear the route for hundreds of mountaineers expected to make the ascent in the coming weeks. China has restricted commercial Everest expeditions from its side.

Among a record 492 climbing permits issued by the Nepalese government this year, the Chinese topped the list with 109, followed by 76 for US nationals.

The US, despite being a leading unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) manufacturer, is a prominent consumer of Chinese drones. However, concerns over security and surveillance by Chinese companies have forced the US to restrict the use of their drones and expand its own market.

But the denial of permission to the US team to test its drone had another consequence: the Nepalese authorities cancelled the drone permits of Chinese DJI FlyCart 100 drones as well for a week.

“Drones have made it easier, but the controversy hampered our work this year,” Pandey of AirLift Technology told Al Jazeera. “The tussle affected our regular work for more than a week. We couldn’t ferry ladders to the Everest icefall when the drone was needed the most for rope fixing.”

Seven Summit had hired AirLift as its drone operator.

Over the years, the use of Chinese drones in the Everest expedition has reduced the risk for the Sherpas, who traditionally carry the mountain gear, food and climbing equipment along the treacherous routes to Camp I. Drones save time and minimise risk for Sherpas, five of whom have already lost their lives this year, even before the official Everest season began.

But Nepalese security analysts say China, the US and even India try to penetrate an impoverished Nepal in the name of economic aid and technological support.

“We easily accept their aid, without verifying what kind of technology they are providing,” said Binoj Basnyat, a retired major-general of the Nepalese army, suspecting these devices could be used for surveillance.

“Orders should be as per our need. Permission should be given with due precaution,” he said.

‘Trump’s men going to Nepal’

Expedition organisers say China’s objections to Nepal allowing US companies could have forced the government to cancel the drone flight permission.

“China was aware of Trump’s men going to Nepal. They [Americans] went to the Everest base camp and showcased a new drone. That complicated the issue,” said the owner of an expedition agency, who refused to reveal his identity, fearing it could affect his business in the days to come.

As the task of fixing ropes along the way to Everest was made more difficult by a massive hanging icefall, the expedition operators urged the Nepalese government to lift its ban on drone operation near the summit.

The ban was lifted on May 9. China’s DJI FlyCart 100 resumed the load ferry, while the US-made Alta X Gen 2 drone remains grounded at the base camp.

Pandey said his company is not keen on US drones after a test in Kathmandu showed it can carry only 5kg at high altitudes. Compared with the DJI FlyCart 100, the US drones were also more expensive, he said.

But Gor, Trump’s special envoy who had travelled to the Everest base camp, hoped the new UAV technology would enable deliveries on Everest in minutes as opposed to days-long treks earlier.

“The US leads in innovation, and we are glad to partner with local Nepali companies to bring cutting-edge technology to Nepal,” the US Embassy in Nepal quoted Gor as saying on May 2.

“Nepal’s new government will work to increase the fruitful partnership between our two nations,” he said. In March, Nepal elected a 35-year-old rapper, Balendra Shah, as prime minister after a landmark vote.

Gao Liang, associate fellow and vice director of Nepal Study Centre at China’s Sichuan University, said Beijing has no intention of engaging in technological competition with the US in the Everest region.

“There is already a domestic consensus in Nepal that the United States’s geopolitical strategic interests in Nepal are primarily to use the country to advance America’s strategic goals against China,” he said. “Therefore, the so-called geopolitical complications largely originate from the US side, while China is only responding passively.”

Nepalese foreign policy expert Vijaya Kant Karna fears the tech war on the Everest may trigger geopolitical tensions in the Himalayas. He said the drone flight permission was given without analysing the pros and cons of the US-China tech war in Nepal.

“What happens if they test and misuse the technology in sensitive areas like the trans-Himalayas region?” asked Karna, who heads the Centre for Social Innovation and Foreign Policy, a Nepalese think tank.