The Cabinet on Thursday formally approved Prime Minister Balendra Shah's visit to the United States to lead Nepal's delegation to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, marking his first foreign trip since taking office in March.
According to the government spokesperson and Education Minister, Sasmita Pokharel, the Shah-led delegation will travel to New York from September 22 to 26. Nepal's prime minister is scheduled to address the General Assembly on September 24, according to the UN's own published speaking schedule.
The trip was originally planned as a smaller delegation led by Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal, according to multiple Nepali media portals. That changed after the August 26 Bhotekoshi flood, which killed more than 1,300 people and left thousands missing or unaccounted for. Government sources cited by Nepali media portals say Shah decided to attend in person specifically to highlight the scale of the disaster to world leaders and press the case for international climate compensation, given that the flood has been linked to glacial and climate-driven causes. Nepal is also expected to raise the issue more broadly under the banner of climate justice, and plans sideline events on climate change during the Assembly session, though Shah himself is not expected to participate in those side events.
ICN found inconsistent reporting on the delegation's size Nepali media portals variously described a 10-11 member team, a 15-member delegation, and other figures in different reports over the past week, with differing lists of which officials are included. What multiple reports agree on: the delegation includes Foreign Minister Khanal, the PM's chief adviser Kumar Byanjankar, the PM's personal secretariat staff, and senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials including the foreign secretary and Nepal's UN mission staff. The exact final composition should be confirmed against an official government list before publication, given the discrepancy across sources.
The same Cabinet meeting also decided to form an official Nepali negotiating team for the Nepal-India Inter-Governmental Sub-Committee (IGSC) meeting to be held in New Delhi a separate, ongoing bilateral mechanism between Nepal and India, distinct from the UN trip. The Cabinet additionally gave in-principle approval to draft legislation aimed at controlling predatory lending, commonly referred to as loan-sharking; approved a list of 17,438 poor households across 27 local units in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Saptari and Dang districts for targeted social security programmes; and finalised several senior appointments, including Hari Prasad Lamsal as chairman of the Teacher Service Commission and two joint secretaries promoted to chief secretary positions in Lumbini and Sudurpashchim provinces.
Why this matters for the diasporaThis will be the first time Nepal's head of government addresses the world body since the Bhotekoshi disaster and since Shah took office in March. For Nepalis abroad, particularly in the New York area, it is also a notable diplomatic moment: Nepal's government will be making its case for international flood assistance on a global stage at the same time the country is negotiating separately for climate finance through mechanisms such as the Loss and Damage Fund, reported separately by ICN.
