By Shashi P.B.B. Malla The prime minister of the Himalayan Republic is to lead a jumbo delegation to this year’s session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, N.Y. K.P. Sharma Oli, however, considers himself a versatile statesman, but suffers from delusions of grandeur. He now makes the tall claim that under his outstanding leadership ‘Nepal’s global standing will be raised in UNGA’ (The Rising Nepal, Sept. 17). And, unfortunately, compared to the huge amount of treasure invested in such a mammoth venture, the returns will be very meagre. First of all, it is the height of irresponsibility to spend so much money with little preparation, knowing fully well that nothing much will come of all the time and energy spent. Second, as is his wont, Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli has been very reluctant to inform the Nepalese people of his plans. This severe lack of accountability is typical of his style of governing. There are, of course, many important issues which could be discussed and even perhaps resolved during UNGA – above all on the sidelines:
  • Trying to revive SAARC
  • Nepal’s continued contribution to UN Peace Keeping Operations (UNPKO), and related
  • Nepal’s candidature for the office of ‘Military Adviser’ at UN HQ , also related
  • In the ongoing international discussions about reform of the UN Security Council, Nepal should not hold back, but actively make its voice heard. Currently, as the largest contributor to UNPKO, Nepal can make the reasonable suggestion that one permanent seat be reserved for a member contributing troops – on a rotating basis
  • Nepal’s leadership of the ‘Least Developed’ & Land-locked countries
  • Participation in the deliberations of the ‘Global South’ on the impact of climate change – and possible compensations for world-wide atmospheric pollution not only by the political West, but also India and China.

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But this is perhaps too much for Oli and his government – it would require too much effort, and the intellectual resources are not available. The foreign minister of the republic Dr Arzu Rana Deuba is also participating in UNGA. She has already left for Canada where she will first attend a two-day meeting of women foreign ministers (wow!). The second leg of her action-packed programme will be her participation at the 79th session of UNGA as a member of Oli’s delegation. Finally, she will lead the Nepali delegation at the third summit of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue in Doha, Qatar. If Nepalese think that these two will represent Nepal with flying colours, then they will probably have to think twice. Both have an image problem which can have a substantial impact on international diplomacy. Their foreign interlocutors must be fully aware of their stellar reputation in the domestic environment!  The writer can be reached at: shashipbmalla@hotmail.com