Nepal PM’s ‘thanks’ to India, China after his minister’s ‘compensation’ pitch

While a Nepalese minister has said aid to the Himalayan country after natural disasters was not 'charity' but 'legal and moral liability' of major greenhouse gas emitters like India and China, the country’s Prime Minister Balen Shah has thanked the neighbours for their swift assistance.

Addressing the Parliament on Tuesday, Shah spoke about the situation in the aftermath of the flash floods that have left over 1,000 people dead and many more missing. The Nepalese Prime Minister thanked India and China for their help and highlighted their role in the ongoing rescue operation.

The Nepalese Prime Minister's remarks came shortly after the country's Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said the Himalayan country has decided to shift its diplomatic position to claim 'compensation' for natural disasters.

“Nepal's greenhouse gas emissions are virtually negligible. Yet, we are paying the ultimate price for a global crisis we did not create. The rapid melting of glaciers and these catastrophic mountain tsunamis are direct consequences of global climate change.

"We are shifting our diplomatic framework from 'aid' to 'justice and compensation'. This is not a matter of charity; it is a matter of legal and moral liability. The major industrial emitters – such as China, which is the world's top emitter, the United States at number two, and India at number three – have a historical responsibility to compensate vulnerable nations like Nepal," he said in an interview with The Kathmandu Post.

He said the government has dispatched a 'formal climate compensation claim letter' to international partners. "We will be raising this issue with absolute firmness and clarity at every upcoming international forum. This is a matter of civilisational survival.

If our Himalayan glaciers disappear, the water security of over two billion people in South Asia-dependent on rivers like the Ganges and the Trishuli-will be permanently compromised. We are advocating not just for Nepal, but for the survival of South Asian civilisation," he said.

India today already sent the fifth tranche of relief material to the ravaged neighbouring country, along with an 11-member rescue team. "The fifth Indian aircraft has departed for Nepal. It is carrying an 11-member rescue team with specialised equipment, and 5.5 tonnes of essential medicines," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on X on Tuesday morning.

Earlier, India delivered a total of 68.5 tonnes of relief material. New Delhi also sent a team of doctors and paramedics, and a technical contingent to help with the rescue operation. India sent the first dispatch of relief material hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to his Nepalese counterpart Shah on August 26, when the flash floods struck, and assured him of assistance to deal with the situation.

Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express.

Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ...

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