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Chief Minister of Koshi Province, Kedar Karki, has urged the Non-Resident Nepalis to invest in Koshi Province.

At a mobile bus handover program organized here on Wednesday, CM Karki vowed that the provincial government would protect and promote investment in the province.

The mobile bus was handed over to Nepal Red Cross Society, Sunsari for blood collection. It was provided with the assistance of the NRN Association. "Here is a huge potential for investment. You can come and explore the uncharted territory, "he called NRNs, vowing protection of capital, labor and technology.

According to him, even NRNs have a vital role in the country's development. The government would not leave any stone unturned to create a favorable atmosphere for capital mobilization. Unity among the Nepalis living in the country and abroad is important for Nepal's development, he underlined.

CM Karki also thanked the NRNA for its assistance with a mobile bus.

On the occasion, NRN Association's Chairman Dr Badri KC said although they were living abroad, they continue extending utmost support to Nepal and Nepalis and help create investment.

Sunsari chapter Chairman of Nepal Red Cross Society, Umesh Thapa, expressed happiness over the assistance received from NRN.

President Ram Chandra Paudel has assigned Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka to work as acting Prime Minister during the absence of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal in office.

Issuing a press statement today, the President's Office informed that as PM Dahal left for Uganda leading a Nepali delegation to attend the 19th NAM summit being held in Kampala, Uganda early this morning, the President asked DPM Khadka to carry out responsibilities of PM Dahal.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has left for Uganda, leading a Nepali delegation, to attend the 19th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). He left here early this morning via Qatar Airlines.

The NAM summit is being held in Kampala, capital city of Uganda, on January 19-20.

PM Dahal-led delegation comprises his daughter Ganga Dahal, Foreign Minister Narayan Prakash Saud, Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal and senior officials of Nepal government. 

PM Dahal is scheduled to address the summit that is being held under the theme, 'deepening global cooperation for shared global affluence' on Friday.

He is attending the special ceremony to be organized by the Ugandan President in honor of the visiting delegation chiefs the same day.

In the course of the summit, the PM will be holding bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the attending countries. Foreign Minister NP Saud had already left for Uganda for the ministerial meeting on the run up to the main event of the NAM summit.

It is said the 19th summit is to dwell on the ministerial report, review implementation status of the 18th NAM summit and pass a Kampala declaration.

Nepal is a founding member of NAM and has been attending the NAM summit actively since establishment. Non-alignment is one of the fundamental foreign principles of Nepal. NAM was established in 1961.

PM Dahal will return home on January 21.

Nepal has reasserted its commitment to Non-Alignment Movement’s (NAM) objectives and principles at the Ministerial Meeting of the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement being held in Kampala, Uganda. Addressing the meeting, Foreign Minister NP Saud said the constitution of Nepal itself embraces NAM principles as a basis for its foreign policy.

“We always conduct independent, objective, balanced, and non-aligned foreign policy. We never join any military alliance and never accept to be a part of the security pact of any country,” he said, hinting at the security and strategic pacts of major powers mainly of China and the US.

Over the past few years, there has been a debate in Kathmandu about America’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and State Partnership Program, and China’s Global Security Initiatives. Minister Saud’s statement is in line with Nepal’s commitment to not joining any strategic or military alliances. 

Of late, countries in the Global South, including Nepal, are facing increasing pressure from big powers, mainly the US and China, to choose their sides. Most of the time, they have stayed out of the great-power rivalry.  

The NAM summit is taking place at a time when the world is confronting multiple challenges, from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war to escalating tensions in the Middle East and China-Taiwan dispute.  

“We are witnessing the worst nightmare in Gaza. We all have been bearing the brunt of the Russia-Ukraine war. To our dismay, geopolitical competition and polarization have resurfaced as defining features of our global political order,” said Saud. He stressed that NAM principles have become more significant than ever.  

Over the past few months, there is a growing debate in Nepal about the revision of non-alignment policy. Some politicians and experts are of the view that in the changing context, the principle of non-alignment is becoming irrelevant. Some have proposed the policy of multi-alignment without elaborating what it entails.

Many of them provide the example of India, which is sending a low-key representation to the NAM summit. But the current government led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has reasserted the importance of non-alignment policy. Dahal himself is attending the conference to demonstrate Nepal’s commitment.

Minister Saud said that NAM, as a strong bloc with 120 countries representing around 60 percent of the world’s population, holds “both majority and moral strengths to devise solutions to global problems that we face today, from conflicts to climate change; economic injustice to social inequality; the digital divide to debt distress, and hunger to disease.”

“NAM must play a pivotal role in promoting multilateralism, defending the UN Charter and international law, finding peaceful solutions to disputes, reforming the global financial architectures, creating a just global economic order for shared affluence,” he added.

Saud also said that NAM should focus on the achievement of SDGs and other Internationally Agreed Development Goals, including the Paris Agreement, in the spirit of leaving no one behind, embracing the power of technology to drive progress for all, and ensuring climate justice for vulnerable countries and regions. 

“We anticipate a robust cooperation framework and renewed partnership with all our development partners and fellow members of NAM, for investment, resources, capacity-building, and technologies in the true spirit of North-South, South-South, and Triangular Cooperation,” he said. 

Nepal is a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, which was formally established at a summit held on 1-6 Sept 1961 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.