Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has tried to
initiate institutional and service-reforms which range from digitalising
consular services to creating a vast pool of experts and prospective
ambassadors. His activism in the aftermath of the catastrophic Bhotekoshi
floods is visible from his bilateral engagements, situation monitoring, and the
Foreign Ministry's leading role in information dissemination regarding the
rescue and relief efforts. Amidst such a scenario, FM Khanal is attending the
United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York happening from this week,
and Nepal is preparing to raise the issue of climate change impacts and lobby
for justice. Ritu Raj Subedi and Modnath Dhakal of The Rising Nepal talked
about Nepal's priorities in the post-disaster scenario, managing resources for
the reconstruction and issues to be raised at the UNGA. Excerpts:
There is a common understanding that the
new government has continued the foreign policy adopted by the previous
governments. However, some critics have also raised questions about the policy
of balance. Would you like to say something about this?
Nepal's foreign policy is guided by the
Constitution of Nepal. In a democracy, the Constitution is the supreme law that
must be followed by governments that come to power through democratic methods
and processes. Nepal's fundamental foreign policy is clearly defined in terms
of non-alignment, the Charter of the United Nations, and our multilateral and
bilateral relations. So, whichever government comes to power must move forward
within the framework of the foreign policy set out in the Constitution. As a democratic
party, that is also our understanding. In that sense, it is natural that there
is continuity in foreign policy, and I believe there should be such continuity.
A few days ago, in your address to the
Parliament, you referred to the 'old baggage' arising from political
polarisation within the country. How, then, has Nepal's internal political
polarisation affected its foreign policy?
Any country's foreign policy must be guided
by its national interest. However, over a long period, Nepal's foreign policy
and its relationships were largely influenced by internal political and
partisan conflicts, and were driven by highly personal or partisan interests.
There were also instances where neighbouring countries and other friendly
nations were unnecessarily brought into the political game of gaining personal
or collective power, and in some cases were unnecessarily criticised or
condemned.
Such wrong practices weaken our own
national identity and interests. Foreign powers or friendly countries should
not be brought into our internal struggles involving personal, partisan or
factional interests. In this sense, when we refer to 'old baggage', our
understanding is that we will not follow such tendencies and that such
practices are wrong.
What preparations is the government
currently making to attend the United Nations General Assembly?
A Nepali delegation led by the Prime
Minister is going to the 81st session of the UNGA, and I will also be part of
the delegation. The General Assembly's 'high-level week' will begin on
September 22 and will run for about a week. I will be leading a team from the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will be participating from the beginning. Given
the current crisis created by the Bhotekoshi disaster, the Prime Minister does
not intend to remain outside the country for a long period. However, since the
disaster has brought some climate-related critical issues to the fore again, we
will internationalise them from the UN platform. The Prime Minister will
participate in order to clearly raise issues concerning climate change and
climate justice, as well as the impact of climate change on Nepal. He is
scheduled to address the General Assembly on September 24.
In addition, I will participate in various sideline
events, high-level events and bilateral meetings. Nepal will also raise various
issues at the international forum, including those concerning LDCs, of which
Nepal is currently a member. We have also applied for an extension in relation
to LDC graduation. We will participate in forums related to public health and
issues concerning climate change. We are also organising a climate
change-related event, "From Sagarmatha to Sea". I will also
participate in a high-level event organised by the Secretary-General of the
United Nations. In all those deliberations, I will place greater emphasis on
Nepal's foreign policy, our engagement with the United Nations, and, given the
current disaster situation, the issues of climate change and the crises arising
from it.
Is the Prime Minister having any sideline
meetings with his foreign counterparts?
There has been tremendous interest in the
Prime Minister's visit from around the world. For a long time, his counterparts
have also been expressing interest informally and indicating that they would
like to meet him if time permits. However, given the disaster situation, he
will now be travelling only for a short period. Because of his limited time, it
appears that we may not be able to arrange many programmes. Since his presence
will be brief, I do not think it will be possible to hold many engagements.
Nepal has written a letter to the board
of the UN's Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage. It has been reported that
Nepal's chances of receiving US$20 million under the fund have increased. How
close are we to receiving it?
Nepal has been making claims for a long
time under the Loss and Damage Fund, which was established under the Paris
Agreement. Although Nepal had made claims previously, with the recent claim we
have made in connection with the current disaster situation, we are seeing a
positive environment emerging based on the information we are receiving. The
matter will formally be decided at a board meeting. We believe that the
forthcoming board meeting may view Nepal's proposal positively.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah has also
said that he will raise a strong voice for climate justice. In this regard,
what kind of internal mechanisms and other groundwork are we doing to secure
the international support we need?
A rapid post-disaster assessment has
already been carried out, and it indicates that reconstruction could cost
around US$4–5 billion. At present, more than 300 people have been mobilised
through the National Planning Commission for the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment
(PDNA). In a few weeks, we will have a clearer picture of how much will be
needed for reconstruction. This will cover both the damage and the loss. Much
of the hydropower sector, for example, is in private hands, although some
projects are government-owned. Roads and bridges have also been washed away, as
have schools and hospitals. So, there will be a need to rebuild public
infrastructure as well. Tens of thousands of houses may also have to be
rebuilt. This means we will have a major immediate need for resources.
In the short term, our focus is on
post-disaster reconstruction, and we are putting a lot of effort into that. But
this disaster has also taught us that reconstruction alone will not be enough. Many
of our settlements and hydropower projects are located along rivers and
streams. We now have to think about how we should rebuild in places where
disasters have occurred. For example, in settlements such as Timure and
Syafrubesi, and even in Betrawati, we need to consider whether people can
safely continue to live there. If a similar accident or disaster happens again
in the future, what will we do? We therefore need to rethink reconstruction in
a new way.
Meanwhile, we also need to start thinking
about other settlements located along our glacial corridors. In the long term,
we need to work out how to build a more resilient ecosystem so that, when
disasters occur in the future, we do not have to suffer the kind of human and
physical losses we are facing today. This is also the message we are giving to
the international community. This is not a one-off disaster. Because of climate
change, Nepal could face such events regularly in the future. Therefore, the
international community also needs to contribute to countries like Nepal that
can suffer major and immediate impacts from climate change. Although our
contribution to the problem is very small – 0.1 per cent of global greenhouse
gas emissions - we are having to suffer its negative effects. In that
situation, we need the international community's technology, knowledge,
know-how and resources not only for immediate reconstruction and rebuilding,
but also in the long term for preparedness and mitigation strategies. We are
preparing for this accordingly.
You mentioned that the assessment is above
Rs. 700 billion. After the 2015 Earthquake, Nepal held a donor conference to
push forward the reconstruction drive. Have you also considered holding a donor
conference for this disaster?
Yes, certainly. We are already moving ahead
with preliminary discussions on holding a donor conference. Once the PDNA is
completed, we are considering setting a date for the conference.
What are the government's main
expectations from the UN?
We believe the UN is a strong platform for
bringing the suffering we have experienced to the attention of the
international community. That is what we are preparing to do. Likewise, regarding
the donor conference, we will make particular use of bilateral meetings to
prepare for it. Since this disaster occurred, I have spoken by telephone with
counterparts from many countries. While I am at the UN, I will meet them as
well as foreign ministers and other representatives of friendly countries who
will be leading their delegations. We are making preparations for those
meetings. Apart from our broader bilateral relations, one important issue we
will raise with them is Nepal's reconstruction needs. We will also inform them
about the resources we require.
After the UNGA, the COP climate conference
will be held in Türkiye. The international community will once again come
together there to discuss climate-related issues, and there will be extensive
work on climate negotiations. We are preparing for that as well, in parallel.
It appears that close cooperation
between China and Nepal could help mitigate disasters like the Bhotekoshi
floods termed as 'Himalayan Tsunami'. However, some reports in the media have
suggested that China did not provide a warning in time. What kind of
communication did the government have with China before the disaster occurred?
This is a question I have been asked many
times, and I have explained it on several occasions. Nepal and China reached an
agreement some time ago to establish a mechanism for sharing hydrological and
meteorological data between the two countries. Based on that agreement, we held
meetings between the two sides. We had a meeting as recently as April, and
after that we exchanged drafts for establishing the mechanism. After the
meeting, we sent them a draft incorporating the conclusions we had reached, and
we were waiting for their response. We were working very closely on this
mechanism, particularly because Nepal is a downstream country. We need to take
into account issues such as the possibility of floods in our rivers when there
is heavy rainfall upstream.
We were doing intensive work on this
mechanism when this major disaster occurred. Even after the disaster, China has
been providing us with a great deal of information. They have given us access
to satellite and drone images, as well as data, through a portal they have
developed themselves. The Chinese side continuously monitored the potential
risk areas through satellites and provided us with information and reports
twice a day. At present, our Survey Department and our department dealing with
climate-related issues are in continuous coordination with them. They are
providing us with all the information we need.
That is the short-term aspect. The
establishment of a bilateral mechanism for data sharing is also moving forward
in parallel.
You introduced an open application
process for the appointment of ambassadors. But there is a concern that highly
competent people may not apply themselves. You may have to actively look for
and bring in such people. Doesn't that create some mismatch in the process?
When we called for applications, we
actually asked people to recommend suitable candidates rather than simply
submit an application. People were also allowed to recommend themselves. We
deliberately used language that was slightly different from the traditional
idea of submitting an application. However, the general understanding was that
this was simply another conventional application process. It was not.
We received around 2,700 CVs, and the
process is taking some time as we received CVs of a much higher quality than I
had personally expected. When you have to choose from among such strong
candidates, the selection process requires careful consideration, both
strategically and legally, for the government. We do not want to limit
ourselves to a small circle. The reason we kept the process open was that,
traditionally, if we had to select someone, we would probably look only within
our own networks - people I know, or people known to those I know. By opening
the process and asking people to suggest suitable candidates, Nepalis around
the world were able to recommend people they considered suitable. As a result,
our pool of potential candidates became much broader.
Since you took office, how much have you
strengthened our missions abroad?
The number of Nepalis living abroad has
increased, but the number of staff working at our embassies remains very low. So,
in the first phase, we decided through the budget process to close some
missions if necessary and increase the number of diplomatic staff in places
where we need to provide more services.
A few days ago, we completed a new
organisational and management survey, or O&M, and we are now in the process
of implementing it. We have just started the work of deploying and transferring
staff, including transferring staff from embassies that have been closed to
places where there is a greater need. Many of our missions and embassies
operate from rented buildings rather than having their own premises. We have
started working on that issue as well. We are also working on how to make the
services we provide easier and more accessible, including where we don't have
our mission. As I have also said in Parliament, there are major countries where
Nepali citizens have to take a three- or four-hour flight simply to provide
their biometrics for passport applications. These are real difficulties. We are
studying alternative ways of making such services more accessible.
Beyond that, we are also working to promote
Nepal's long-term interests through stronger engagement with neighbouring
countries. If we look particularly at India, Nepal and India have more than 40
bilateral mechanisms. Many of these mechanisms had not met for a long time. But
recently, we have seen two or three meetings being held almost every week,
sometimes in India and sometimes in Nepal. When these mechanisms become active,
they strengthen the institutions themselves. If the mechanisms established for
institutional strengthening are functioning properly, the conclusions they
reach can provide long-term benefits for Nepal.
Published in The Rising Nepal on 20 September 2026.
