The 17th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, which the Nepal government instructed Kathmandu University to cancel, will now be held online, organisers said on Saturday.

In a statement, the International Association for Tibetan Studies (IATS) said Kathmandu University had been instructed by the government not to proceed with convening the week-long conference.

The instruction was delivered in person by Chief Secretary Govinda Bahadur Karkee and Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai to Kathmandu University Vice-Chancellor Rishikesh Wagle, Registrar Rajeev Shrestha and Sagar Sharma of the university’s Himalaya Centre for Asian Studies (HiCAS), according to the statement.

Karkee had summoned the KU officials to his office last Monday and urged them to cancel the programme, citing the sensitivity of the time and security concerns, according to officials.

Ahead of the cancellation, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming held meetings with senior government officials and urged them to be cautious, according to government officials familiar with the matter. They said Chinese officials were concerned that pro-Tibet activists could use the conference as a platform for demonstrations.

Government and security officials said security agencies had also warned of possible demonstrations around the event venue and the risk of self-immolation by pro-Tibet activists. The concerns were conveyed to top government officials and some leaders of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, officials said.

A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Post that Nepal’s decision to cancel the Tibetan studies conference, reportedly following pressure from Chinese officials, raises concerns about the impact of Beijing’s pressure on Nepal’s sovereignty.

“We hope Nepal will reverse this decision and allow Nepali citizens to exercise their freedom of expression and association,” the diplomat said.

The organisers had also written to Education Minister Sasmit Pokharel, warning that cancellation would have consequences for Tibetan and Himalayan studies and could damage Kathmandu University’s academic standing.

“It would be damaging to Kathmandu University, which would lose an important platform to showcase its strength and build new academic networks. It is also likely to cause reputational damage to Nepal through negative press coverage, and will have long-term repercussions in terms of economy, tourism, and academic collaborations,” said the letter, signed by Françoise Robin, acting president of the IATS, and Ulrike Roesler, secretary general of the IATS.

“The IATS Board cannot imagine that the cancellation of the conference can be in the interest of the Ministry of Education, which aims at fostering academic excellence,” the letter said.

The IATS board also sought the minister’s support to allow the conference to proceed, saying it needed immediate clarity on the status of the event because neither the board nor the convenors had received anything in writing from the government.

“Taking all these aspects into account, we do hope that the conference will go ahead; however, if this is not possible, the IATS will need an official letter from the Ministry of Education stating that KU cannot organise the conference,” the letter said. “Without clear information in writing, we are in an impossible position towards our membership, to whom we are accountable.”

The IATS said that, to date, neither the convenors nor the association had received any formal written communication from the government.

“However, further oral communications with representatives of the government have unfortunately confirmed these instructions,” the statement said. “In light of this, the KU Himalaya Centre for Asian Studies (KU HiCAS) and the KU Centre for Buddhist Studies (KU-CBS) have subsequently handed any further decisions and responsibilities over to the Advisory Board of the IATS.”

“The IATS Board expresses its concern about this unexpected and unwarranted interference in a purely academic event. Despite repeated requests, it has not received any formal written information from the government and has not yet been given any explanation for this last-minute decision,” the statement said.

Hosting the event at Kathmandu University was agreed with all relevant parties in 2023, and no concerns were raised during the planning process, according to the IATS. The convenors had spent three years preparing the event and incurred considerable expenses on behalf of the conference.

More than 700 participants had already bought air tickets and booked hotel rooms in Kathmandu, the IATS said.

“The effective cancellation of this conference by the authorities will raise questions about holding future academic events in the country, and is likely to result in economic and reputational damage,” it said.

The IATS Board held an emergency online meeting on Thursday to decide how to proceed. It voted to take over as conference convenor and hold the 17th Seminar of the IATS as an online event.

The programme will remain unchanged, and participants will be able to attend and present online from wherever they are, the statement said. It added that adjustments to different time zones would not be possible.