Kathmandu, Apr. 11
Minister for Foreign
Affairs Shisir Khanal has said that the Indian Ocean is
central to global trade and energy flows and its stability is a global
responsibility.
Speaking at the 9th Indian Ocean Conference
ongoing in Port Louis of Mauritius he said the consequences of the conflicts in
West Asia extended far beyond the region – affecting fuel prices, supply
chains, and livelihood back home.
"These disruptions remind us that the
stability of the Indian Ocean is inseparable from global peace," said FM
Khanal.
According to him, one cannot ignore the
conflicts unfolding in West Asia. For Nepal, these are not distant events.
Millions of Nepali citizens live and work in the region, and their safety
remains our foremost concern.
He reaffirmed Nepal's commitment to the
foundational framework for the law of the sea.
"We emphasize that landlocked nations
possess inherent rights to access the high seas and to participate in the
maritime economy. These are not privileges granted by geography, but rights
enshrined in international law," he said.
Minister Khanal also called for a
rules-based international order where the rights of all nations, large and
small, are respected.
Climate change, maritime security threats,
disruptions to global supply chains, and widening inequalities demand not just
cooperation, but genuine collective stewardship. In view of the Government of
Nepal, stewardship means moving beyond narrow self-interest toward a shared
responsibility for our global commons, said the FM.
According to him, this requires inclusive,
transparent, and rules-based multilateral frameworks. The governance must be
equitable, ecological, and above all, inclusive of those who rely on the ocean
from the landlocked interior.
The Hindu Kush Himalaya region, serves as
the primary source of fresh water for billions of people. The glaciers and
snowfields of Nepal feed the great river systems that ultimately discharge into
the Indian Ocean. "Therefore, the health of the mountains and the health
of the ocean are inseparable," said FM Khanal.
Likewise, he said that climate change
has laid bare this interdependence in the most alarming ways. As Nepal’s
glaciers retreat at unprecedented rates, people here face the imminent threat
of glacial lake outburst floods that endanger entire communities.
At the same time, the Indian Ocean is
warming faster than any other ocean, driving sea-level rise that threatens the
very existence of low-lying island states and coastal communities.
"What melts in the mountains
eventually rises in the seas. Nepal has been vocal about this nexus at the
United Nations and COP summits," the Minister said.
He called upon the Conference to formally
recognise this ecological bridge as a critical dimension of Indian Ocean
governance, and said, "Our stewardship must encompass both the peaks and
the waters, for they rise and fall together."
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 12 April 2026.
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