COP31: Nepal pavilion inaugurated, finance minister in Turkey, Himalayan issue not a separate agenda

Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal inaugurated the Nepal pavilion at the COP31 global climate summit, which began on Monday in Antalya, Turkey. Khanal is leading the Nepali delegation at the summit, which runs until November 20.

At the inauguration, he described the Bhotekoshi disaster as a "Himalayan tsunami," saying that Nepal, a low emitter, has had to bear disproportionate losses. He said international cooperation was needed to ensure affected countries have easy access to the loss and damage fund and to secure the Himalayan region.

Health and Food Security Minister Nisha Mehta and House of Representatives member Sagar Dhakal were also present at the event. Finance Minister Dr Swarnim Wagle also departed for the summit on Monday.

According to his secretariat, he will present Nepal's position on climate and sustainable economic development at about half a dozen high-level sessions and will return home on Sunday, Kartik 29.

Meanwhile, the Himalayan issue jointly proposed by Nepal and Bhutan has not been included in the summit's separate formal agenda. Kyrgyzstan had also put forward a separate proposal, but during negotiations it agreed to align its proposal with that of Nepal and Bhutan.

According to a Nepali delegation official, after talks that continued until 2 am, an understanding was reached to keep discussing the issue throughout the summit and try to incorporate it into the final decision.