un 9, 2016- Nepal has been ranked as the second peaceful county among seven south Asian countries though the internal security situation deteriorated, according to Global Peace Index.

The report by Vision for Humanity named Bhutan as most peaceful country in South Asia. However "internal security concerns were heightened in Nepal owing to anti-government protests that have led to an increased number of detainees".

Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan have been ranked the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh. Overall, the individual overall scores of Afghanistan, Nepal and India deteriorated, while for Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, scores improved modestly.

“In 2016, Nepal’s internal peace score is two percent better than it was in 2008 and its Positive Peace score was seven percent better in 2015 than in 2005,” the report reads. The report raises its concern that the world was becoming less peaceful.

“The overall global level of peace continues to deteriorate while the gap between the most and least peaceful countries continued to widen,” said the report. Peace is disturbed particularly in the Middle East and Africa.

“The last decade has seen a historic decline in world peace. This interrupts the long-term improvements in peace since World War II. The historic ten-year deterioration in peace has largely been driven by the intensifying conflicts in Middle East and Africa,” the report said further.

Terrorism is also at an all-time high, battle deaths from conflict are at a 25 year high, and the number of refugees and displaced people are at a level not seen in 60 years, according to report. The majority of terrorist activity was highly concentrated in five countries: Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria. These countries accounted for 78 percent deaths from terrorism in 2014, it was reported.


The Kathmandu Post