An incident at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport recently made headlines when Shambhavi Adhikari, a Nepali citizen en route to Berlin, was stopped from boarding her connecting flight and subsequently sent back to Kathmandu.
However, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has swiftly moved to set the record straight, stating unequivocally that “the incident has been wrongly portrayed as bias/discrimination against Nepali citizens.”
In a statement released on Saturday, November 1, 2025, the MHA clarified that Indian immigration authorities bore no responsibility for the event. The Ministry explained that Ms. Adhikari had arrived in Delhi via Air India from Kathmandu and was in transit. Her journey to Germany was interrupted when Qatar Airways, her connecting carrier, made the decision to deny her onward travel.
This decision, according to the MHA, was based on Ms. Adhikari’s visa validity and was in line with the destination country’s rules and requirements. Following this, the airline flew her back to Kathmandu. The Ministry further noted that Ms. Adhikari later rescheduled her travel and successfully reached her destination via an alternative route from Kathmandu.
The MHA reiterated that international transit passengers typically do not require interaction with Indian Immigration for their onward journeys. Such matters are considered entirely between the airline and the individual passenger, meaning Indian immigration authorities played “absolutely no role” in the incident.
Emphasizing the deep ties between the two nations, the Ministry concluded by affirming, “India values its strong relationship with Nepal and reassures that no Indian authority has any bias or discrimination against citizens of Nepal.”