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Nepal has given its backing for India’s bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, saying it was needed to reflect the changed times and make it more effective. |
Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala told the UN General Assembly on Friday that the UN, including the Security Council, needs to be reformed “to reflect contemporary realities for making it more effective, representative, responsive and capable of handling the increasingly complex global problems.”
He said Nepal was for expanding both permanent and non-permanent categories of Security Council membership and supported India, Japan, Germany and Brazil being given permanent seats. He added a pitch for the African continent and member states that contributed to international peace and security getting Security Council seats.
Koirala was scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday morning.
Proposals to expand the Security Council, which now has five permanent members and 10 elected to two-year terms, have been around since 2000, but have hit a stalemate in the General Assembly.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the foreign ministers of Brazil, Germany and Japan met earlier this week to recharge their campaign for permanent seats on the
Council.
Koirala spoke of the “profound changes in the dispersal of geopolitical and economic power among nations” and said Nepal could benefit from the economic growth of India and China. “Peace, stability, and democracy in Nepal would pave its way for reaping the benefits from economic dynamism in the neighbourhood in recent years,” he said.
US GIVE $402MN FOR DEMOCRACY: The United States has announced a grant assistance of $402mn to Nepal to strengthen its democratic
institutions.
The funds to be provided by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will be used over the next five years to reinforce recent gains in democratic processes, improving governance, expanding proven health interventions in maternal and child health, improving literacy, increasing economic growth and addressing the challenges of food insecurity and climate change.
The assistance agreement was signed on Friday by Beth Dunford, mission director of USAID Nepal, and Madhu K Marasini, joint secretary, ministry of finance, according to a statement issued by the US
embassy in Kathmandu.
“This agreement reflects the American people’s continued commitment to development priorities in Nepal ... USAID, working together with the Government of Nepal, seeks to build on the efforts and successes of the past and create a Nepal where the most vulnerable are lifting themselves out of extreme poverty and contributing to stable, resilient democratic societies,” Dunford said.