PM Shah off to US to attend UNGA

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Balendra Shah left for New York on Tuesday evening to participate in the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Shah departed from Tribhuvan International Airport on a Qatar Airways flight to Doha. He will travel to New York via Doha.

He will be received at Hamad International Airport in Doha by Nepali officials, including Nepal’s acting ambassador to Qatar.

Prime Minister Shah will depart Doha for New York on September 23. At John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, he will be received by Nepal’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Nepal’s acting ambassador to the United States and other Nepali officials.

Upon arrival in New York, Prime Minister Shah will visit Nepal’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations. The foreign secretary, Nepal’s permanent representative to the UN, Nepal’s acting ambassador to the US and Nepal’s consul general in New York are scheduled to brief him on the visit.

He will then attend a reception hosted in his honor by the permanent representatives.

On September 24, Prime Minister Shah will hold a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He is then scheduled to address the UN General Assembly.

In his address, Shah is expected to draw the attention of the global community toward the impacts of climate change in the Himalayan region, with special emphasis on the Bhotekoshi disaster, which has claimed more than 1,450 lives, with more than 5,000 still unaccounted for.

The visit marks Shah’s first foreign trip since assuming office on March 27. He is scheduled to return home on September 26.