Kathmandu, September 8
Prime Minister Balendra Shah will lead a 15-member Nepali delegation to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to sources at the Prime Minister’s Office.
The delegation will include Prime Minister Shah, Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal and the Prime Minister’s Chief Adviser Kumar Ben, among others.
According to sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai, Chief of the UN Division Krishna Prasad Dhakal, Chief of Protocol Kumar Raj Kharel, two undersecretaries and a section officer will also be part of the delegation.
The Prime Minister’s Office will be represented by Chief Adviser Ben, Chief Personal Secretary Subash Sharma, Private Secretary Pradeep Pariyar and a personal undersecretary from the Prime Minister’s media team.
Two military officers from the Nepal Army assigned to the Prime Minister’s security team and one Nepal Police officer will also accompany the delegation.
Foreign Minister Khanal, Foreign Secretary Rai and officials from the UN Division will leave for New York on September 20. Khanal is scheduled to participate in various sideline meetings held on the margins of the General Assembly.
Prime Minister Shah, meanwhile, will leave Nepal on September 23.
Shah is scheduled to address the General Assembly on September 24. According to sources, his address will take place sometime between 3 pm and 9 pm local time.
A total of 24 heads of state, heads of government, or foreign ministers are scheduled to address the General Assembly that day, with Shah scheduled to speak 17th in the order.
The government had initially approved a delegation to attend the General Assembly under the leadership of Foreign Minister Khanal.
However, the government later decided to send Prime Minister Shah himself following the heavy loss of lives and property caused by the floods in Rasuwa.
The Prime Minister is expected to raise the issue of climate change and its impact on Nepal at the General Assembly. Government sources said Nepal plans to highlight the Rasuwa floods as an example of the increasingly severe consequences of climate change and press the international community for compensation and support for the losses suffered by vulnerable countries.
Nepal is also preparing to organise several sideline programmes focusing on climate change during the General Assembly. Prime Minister Shah, however, is not scheduled to attend those meetings.
Shah is expected to return to Nepal on September 25, a day after addressing the General Assembly.
