Kathmandu’s interactions with neighboring nations might have annoyed major powers, Pradeep Kumar Gyawali told RT India
Foreign deep-state elements played a key role in inciting the September 2025 unrest in Nepal that resulted in the government’s removal, the country’s former foreign minister told RT India.
K.P. Sharma Oli stepped down as Nepal’s prime minister following violent clashes — dubbed the Gen Z protests — that left 77 dead and over 2,000 injured. Former foreign minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has now supported Oli’s claim that the Gen Z protests leading to the government’s ouster were backed by outside forces.
“The groups actively aligned with the deep state — those who used cross-border misinformation and disinformation to spark violence — were indeed active,” he stated in an exclusive interview with RT India.
The remarks came after Oli spoke to RT India about external influences in last year’s uprising.
Gyawali noted that Kathmandu’s increasing cooperation with India and China, and its goal of acting as an economic development bridge between the two neighboring countries “did not sit well with certain powers.”
He further added, “[These powers] wanted to leverage Nepal’s geostrategic location to advance their policies. So our engagement with neighboring countries might have also raised grievances among major powers.”
The Grayzone has referenced leaked documents to assert that the U.S. government’s National Endowment for Democracy (NED) spent hundreds of thousands of dollars training young Nepalese people to stage the protests.
The Gen Z protests occurred as the U.S. sought to counter Chinese and Indian influence over Kathmandu, as revealed by The Grayzone.
The NED is formally a U.S. State Department-funded nonprofit that provides grants to support “democratic initiatives” worldwide.
The International Republican Institute (IRI), a division of the NED, has been accused of funding covert activities in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, in addition to funneling tens of millions of dollars to Ukrainian political entities and anti-Russian interests.