KATHMANDU, AUG 24 -
While the debate on whether or not the caretaker government can take major political decisions is still burning, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala are all set to visit New York next month to participate in the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

“As there there is no immediate chance of a new government being in place, the country cannot skip such an important international forum,” a minister told the Post requesting anonymity.

The 65th UNGA session is beginning form the second week of September. However, government officials have been declining to say whether the caretaker prime minister and foreign minister can represent the country in an important international meeting like that of the UN where important agendas like Millennium Development Goals  and issue of Least Developed Countries are discussed.

Both the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) have started laying groundwork for the UNGA. A high-level segment of review meeting on MDGs is going to take place at UN initiative on Sept. 20, 21, and 22 in New York where the head of state of several countries will participate.

The meeting will dwell on the progress made by countries and evaluate their commitments. “More commitments will be required to meet the MDGs. How can a caretaker prime minister can express commitment in such policy level matters when he is leaving the office shortly,” a senior government official said. 

The UN will begin general debate beginning Sept. 23 where Nepal’s prime minister and foreign minister will be addressing.

Nepal has already “instructed” his officials to form a small team to partake in the UNGA session. “The number of delegation should not be over 12,” an official privy to PMO’s planning said. The PMO held a meeting  two weeks ago and will hold another soon to determine the number of delegation and Nepal’s agendas for the UNGA. Gyan Chandra Acharya, Nepal’s Permanent Represen-tative to the UN, is in Kathmandu for necessary consultation.

Meanwhile, foreign minister Koirala is learnt to be preparing to attend Nepal Day in Shanghai Expo as the chief guest on Sept. 3.

Posted on: 2010-08-25 08:12

Post Your Comment

Please note that all the fields marked * are mandatory.

* Full Name

* Address

* Email Address

* Comment
[Some of the HTML tags you can use : <b>, <i>, <a>]

* Captcha

Get another CAPTCHA code