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Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has launched the ‘Unity for Sustainability’ campaign, a two-year-long climate initiative, started by Annapurna Media Network, one of Nepal’s leading media houses.

PM Deuba inaugurated the campaign amid a special function organized by AMN at Hotel Yak & Yeti in Kathmandu on January 7.  The program itself, which came into force on January 7, was announced amid a special function in Kathmandu on November 24.

The first-of-its-campaign in Nepal aims to bring key climate stakeholders together to fight the effects of climate change and create sustainable development. Inaugurating the campaign, PM Deuba applauded AMN initiatives to create awareness on climate change issues.

PM Deuba added that media can play a vital role in highlighting issues of climate change and contribute to an enhanced dialogue. “I believe we can contribute to clean and green nature-based solutions to the prevailing climate change and environmental issues. I also strongly raised the issue in the recent COP26 Summit,” said PM Deuba. He informed of the initiatives taken by Nepal government to mitigate the effects of climate change. 

Three former prime ministers—KP Sharma Oli, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and Madhav Kumar Nepal—through their video message appreciated the AMN initiation as well. They also underlined the need to work together to fight climate change.

Speaking at the program, AMN Chairman Capt. Rameshwar Thapa said the world was passing through a climate crisis so all stakeholders must unite and work in collaboration. “I am confident that this initiation will add one more brick towards green minds, thereby green behaviors,” Thapa said. Thapa added that as a media house it is AMN’s duty to make people aware and alarmed about this life-and-death issue. “The issue of climate change concerns me. This it the time to give back to the environment and society,” he said.

Chief Executive Officer of Annapurna Media Network Sanat Neupane formally asked for more and more climate partners to support the initiative. Neupane said, “Join us or please make us join you, all that matters is a partnership and doing something more.” He further added, “Climate change, we thought, was a distant ghost but now it is knocking on our doors.”

The program also witnessed the signing of Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with dozens of organizations to work together on climate change. The inauguration program was attended by high-level government officials, climate activists, leaders of civil society, and national and international media representatives.  

To fight climate change individual steps are not enough and all stakeholders need to work together. Right now, these stakeholders are not working in unison and there is a lack of coordination, and hence no concrete output. AMN hopes to change this state of affairs by bringing together climate stakeholders and fostering meaningful interactions between them.

Nepal is in the process of rapid development and achieving economic prosperity. In the current development process, the issue of environmental protection has not received due attention. AMN believes in a sustainable development framework that strikes balance between development and environmental protection.

It wants to highlight the issue of sustainable development that takes care of the planet, and to address the challenges posed by the effects of climate change. So the core of the campaign is to unite all stakeholders to work on a sustainable development framework. AMN will be organizing a series of related programs in the days to come.

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s scheduled India visit next week has been uncertain following the postponement of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2022.

The global investor summit organized by the Indian state of Gujarat was scheduled to begin on January 10. It has been canceled following a surge in Covid-19 cases in India.

PM Deuba was invited as one of the high-level guests at the inauguration of the summit. Along with attending the Summit, Deuba was supposed to hold bilateral talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Two countries were preparing some Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) on some projects including the purchase of fertilizer from India and construction of a bridge in the Mahakali River. 

India has dismissed the possibility of convening the 19th Summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation(SAARC) in the near future.

Speaking at a weekly press briefing, Arindam Bagchi Spokesperson at the Ministry of External Affairs of India made it clear that there is still no consensus among the member states about holding the Summit.

India’s statement comes three days after Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that his country is ready to host the SAARC Summit. The Pakistani foreign minister had said that ‘India can attend the meet virtually if it does not wish to participate in person.’

Responding to Pakistan’s offer, Spokesperson Bagchi said, “We have seen media reports regarding Pakistani Foreign Minister’s remark about the SAARC Summit. You are aware of the background of why the SAARC summit has not been held since 2014. There has been no material change in the situation.”

The 19th SAARC Summit was scheduled to take place on November 9-10, 2016 in Islamabad. India, however, refused to participate in the Summit claiming that Pakistan is supporting the cross-border terrorist which Pakistan always denies. Since then, indicating to Pakistan, India has stated that the regional environment is not appropriate for holding the summit.

It is Pakistan’s turn to hold the Summit and Nepal are currently serving as a chair of SAARC. India’s response comes amid the reports that preparations are underway for holding the Summit in the second half of this year.

To date, SAARC was stalled due to India-Pakistan tensions. Now, there is a new development in Afghanistan, a member state of SAARC where the Taliban has returned to power. Taliban is yet to get international recognition. There would be disputes among SAARC members about inviting Afghanistan to the Summit. So chances of the SAARC Summit in the near future appear slim.

A Cabinet meeting of India has approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Nepal for the construction of the bridge at Dharchula. As per the decision, a bridge will be built over the Mahakali river at the Nepal-India border.

“With the signing of MoU, diplomatic relation between the two countries will further improve," the statement read.

India’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the MoU between India and Nepal will be signed in the “near future" and the bridge will be completed within three years. “The construction of the bridge will help people living in Dharchula in Uttarakhand and in the territory of Nepal," he said. In his tweet, India's Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishnakar has termed it an important that will deepen friendly ties.