This report concerns the political developments and bilateral relations of Nepal with the United States. Nepal has been described as a yam between two boulders. Nepal's geopolitical status as a small, landlocked buffer state situated between two Asian giants - India and China - has severely constrained its foreign policy and trade options. Although Nepal has sought to maintain friendly relations with both neighbors, its cultural, linguistic, religious and economic ties with India historically have been much closer than those with China.

This report focuses on three major South Asian river basins: the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna River Basin, the Helmand River Basin, and the Indus River Basin. The authors use a composite Water Vulnerability Index based on development pressures, ecology, and other factors, to demonstrate the vulnerability of the river basins.

This report discusses border disputes between China and India in the Himalayas and the recent dispute at Doka La over China extending a road into disputed territory between Bhutan and China.

This is a conversation about the historical relationships between the Boro rulers and the Bhutanese rulers. Dialect: Standard Boro

Tashi Dorji describes a pilgrimage to Tshong Tshongma and the surrounding area. He discusses a biography of Tshong Tshongma Ney (the religious site) which was taken by the people of Bonglang village (Tawang District, Arunachal Pradesh, India) for reception purposes but never returned. It says there is a garden of Tshong Tshongma at the base of Dukti village with fruits, betel leaves, betel nuts, and other plants which only those who are about to die can reach. He explains that the deity behind the Jomo is Tshong Tshongma. If someone has lost one’s life force, it can be retrieved from the devil with the help of Jomo.

Dorji and Tashi Dorji, residents of Dukti village, discuss Serwa Dzong, an abandoned fortress outside Dukti village (about two hours walking). They explain that no one is sure when it was originally built, and now only ruins remain to tell its existence. They say it was used as a checkpoint in ancient times to collect taxes from merchants passing through Bhutan into the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Now, there is a makeshift police checkpoint next to the ruins, erected during the COVID-19 pandemic to keep watch on trespassers.

Mrs. Humchung is one of the oldest people living in Thragom village. She describes her pilgrimage to Buddha Gaya, a Buddhist temple in Bihar, India. First, she walked to Trashigang, in the middle of Trashigang Dzong courtyard. From Trashigang she took a truck. She says that almost all the elders in her village went together and almost all of them died, except for 6 of them. It took them a week to reach Buddha Gaya. They took their rations and cooked using firewood. The glaring difference she discusses is that now, there is no fencing around the Bodhi tree. They were allowed to get inside the Mahabodhi temple without any trouble. They did inner circulation on the second floor of Mahabodhi temple, which is impossible now.

Mrs. Humchung is one of the oldest people living in Thragom village. She describes her pilgrimage to Buddha Gaya, a Buddhist temple in Bihar, India. They stayed in the way in the open fields on their way to Buddha Gaya by truck. Others took Ngultrum 700 for their trip to Buddha Gaya. From Trashigang district, they took a Bhutanese truck through Rangiya, Hasimara, and Siliguri on the way.

Mr. Koncho Tshering describes how his son helped build the Jarungkhashor stupa located outside Kathmandu, Nepal. Also known as Bouddha, Boudhanath, or Khasti Chaitya, it is one of the oldest stupas in the world. He says that construction and later renovations were funded by selling religious instruments and blessed earth collected from Nepal, India, and Bhutan in the Tawang district, Arunachal Pradesh, India.

Mr. Koncho Tshering discusses his family's migration to Bhutan. His parents and his mother's two relatives migrated to Bhutan from the Tawang district in Arunachal Pradesh, India. He says the main reason for this was the heavy tax in Tawang at the time. He says their parents have to take plank towards Tshona (Tibet) every year, and also pay taxes to Tawang Monastery. After migrating to Bhutan, they stayed in Thragom village.

Mrs. Humchung is one of the oldest people living in Thragom village. She describes a visit to the Dalai Lama. She says the first visit to see His Holiness in Tawang was quite long. They stayed around a month and a half in Tawang at a relative's house. While waiting for His Holiness, they helped in their fields, took care of house chores, and got wood from the forest.

Mrs. Humchung is one of the oldest people living in Thragom village. She describes the process of millet plantation. Firstly, they planted seedlings of millet, and after a few weeks, they made the soil loose. She says they practiced the labor exchange program, where they didn’t make cash payments to workers. During the break, they are offered fermented wine in an ox horn. Before millet plantation, they would get goats from Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, India, and use the manure as fertilizer. She says that millet was planted before the arrival of the magpie, and that planting millet after the arrival of the magpie was considered late and generally wouldn’t have a good yield.

Mrs. Humchung is one of the oldest people living in Thragom village. She describes the process of millet plantation, saying there are two ways to plant millet. One is planted before the magpie departs, and another is planted when the magnolia flower blossoms. The latter one is not transplanted. In the past, when people forgot to plant seedlings before the arrival of the magpie, they would make the sound of the magpie and plant the millet when the magpie leaves instead.

Mrs. Humchung is one of the oldest people living in Thragom village. She describes the lineage of Sero which originated in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, India. She says Mr. Damba Tashi is first among the holders of the golden lineage of Sero. As a mark of respect to him, his descendants keep a long ponytail, even if they shave. She says the lineage started when Damba Tashi married the princess of the serpent world. Mrs. Humchung says she came to know about these stories through marriage to Damba Tashi’s descendants.

Mrs. Humchung is one of the oldest people living in Thragom village. She describes an annual pilgrimage to Tawang, saying this was most celebrated among the older generation of Dakpa in Thragom, Bamchang, Rinzentangpang, Dukti, and Namdhi villages. The event was seen as a way to connect back with relatives across the India-Bhutan border. They usually went to witness Tawang Torgya, a three days mask dance festival. It took around three days by foot to reach Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, India when road links were not yet there across the border.

Mrs. Humchung is one of the oldest people living in Thragom village. She describes when she went to see His Holiness Dalai Lama in the 1980s. The says that, during that visit, she, her husband, and fellow villagers spent around one month waiting for His Holiness Dalai Lama. They were hosted by a relative of her husband. She also went into the field to help her host with farming, collecting firewood, making alcohol, and constructing the house. She explains that, that this time, it was common for relatives in these two countries to host each other for these visits.