KATHMANDU: Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chair Rabi Lamichhane has called for greater cooperation among Nepal, India and China to reduce the growing risk of climate-induced disasters in the Himalayan region.
Speaking at the ‘NDTV Anviksha: Ideas Across Borders’ programme in Kathmandu on Thursday, Lamichhane first called for a minute of silence in memory of those who lost their lives in Wednesday’s devastating floods in Rasuwa and Nuwakot.
He said the floods had caused extensive damage to settlements, hydropower projects, roads and bridges across the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river basins, while claiming numerous lives.
“I am not in a position to give an exact figure of the damage at present. The data collection has not been completed,” Lamichhane said. “The government is working on every front. Search and rescue operations are being carried out by security agencies, while relief is being delivered to the affected districts.”
He expressed gratitude to security personnel involved in search and rescue operations and local communities that immediately mobilised to help people affected by the disaster.
Lamichhane noted that local communities often become the first responders during disasters, even before external assistance reaches affected areas.
He also thanked friendly countries and the international community for expressing solidarity with and offering support to Nepal.
Lamichhane expressed appreciation to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for speaking with Prime Minister Balendra Shah on Wednesday evening, offering condolences and pledging necessary assistance to Nepal.
He said India had already sent relief materials following its offer of support and that other international partners had also expressed readiness to assist Nepal.
According to Lamichhane, the support and solidarity extended by friendly countries during difficult times should not be viewed merely as a formality.
He said Wednesday’s disaster had affected not only Nepal but also areas across the border in China, demonstrating that climate-induced disasters in the Himalayan region cannot be confined within national boundaries.
“Nepal, India and China are three countries, but we are part of the same Himalayan system. Our rivers begin above one border and flow below another,” he said. “The water that took lives and property in Nepal on Wednesday morning did not ask which country’s territory it was flowing through.”
Lamichhane said the effects of climate change were becoming increasingly visible in the Himalayas, with glaciers melting and lakes forming in areas previously covered by snow.
He called for Nepal, India and China to work together on climate adaptation, the development of early warning systems and the rapid cross-border exchange of disaster-risk information.
“Climate change has already happened, so now we need to make adaptation plans,” he said. “We may not be able to stop glaciers from melting or snow from falling, but we can prevent ourselves from being surprised by the disasters they cause.”
He said effective early warning systems could provide families living in disaster-prone areas with crucial time to save their lives.
“We can give families in the Valley 20 minutes that could be decisive in saving their lives,” Lamichhane said.
Lamichhane expressed solidarity with families who lost loved ones, homes and settlements in Wednesday’s disaster, saying the country was mourning.
He also thanked leaders around the world, bilateral and multilateral agencies, development partners, friendly nations and members of the public for expressing solidarity with and offering assistance to Nepal.
Lamichhane apologised for being unable to speak on the programme’s previously scheduled theme, ‘Aspirational Nepal and Rising India: Building Our Future Together’, due to the disaster, and expressed hope that he would have an opportunity to share his views on the subject in the future.
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