This study argues that sustainable development can only be ensured if social issues are given due consideration in the conceptualization and design of development planning. The paper convincingly shows how social, economic, and biophysical variables are interrelated and how they influence the outcomes of programme and project sustainability. A list of important social and cultural issues characteristic of backward areas, in general, and the Hindu Kush-Himalayan mountain areas, in particular, are discussed as the agenda for social analysis. Several available methods and tools are also discussed to provide a flavour of social analysis useful for social as well as non-social scientists involved and concerned with sustainable development of mountain areas. The paper goes on to argue that the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region, home to over 120 million of the world's poorest people, but having the potential to affect the lives of a far greater number of people in the entire South Asian region, requires urgent attention from development planners and other activists in charting a course of development initiative that is mountain specific and takes into consideration the historical and cultural heritage and practices of the region. The paper concludes with an agenda of action for looking beyond the current status quo and indicating a new framework for studying mountain areas.