Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has said that the Bhotekoshi flood tragedy has offered an unmistakable foreign-policy imperative for Nepal: treating climate change as an existential strategic priority.
"We, therefore, must focus on robust ecological cooperation: better early warning mechanisms, hydrological data-sharing, predictable grant-based climate finance, and practical collaboration with the neighbours and global community," Khanal said while addressing a program organized by the Asia Society.
In his speech, Minister Khanal provided a template of engagement with two immediate neighbors: India and China.
First, Southward: Turning proximity into production, he said.
Nepal shares an over 1,700-kilometer open border with five Indian states—Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Sikkim—home to over 400 million people, Khanal said. Contiguous to this vast market lies Nepal’s fertile Terai. "Guided by our policy of 'Thick Connectivity and Thin Borders,' we are moving towards structured, reciprocal interdependence," he said.
Nepal’s perennial rivers possess 43 gigawatts of economically viable hydropower, Khanal said.
“By scaling toward 28,000 megawatts by 2035, Nepal can power regional industrial decarbonization, exporting clean electricity to India and onward to Bangladesh.”
For global and Indian firms seeking resilient supply chains, locating manufacturing in Nepal’s border Special Economic Zones provides a structural edge: continuous, low-cost green power to decarbonize production networks, alongside favorable international market access, he said.
Second, Northward: Turning geography into connectivity and diversification, he said.
"With China, our approach is pragmatic, commercially grounded, and focused on long-term resilience. Our objective is not simply to open roads to the north; it is to transform Nepal from a landlocked economy into a land-linked economy," Khanal said.
"We are advancing a genuinely multidimensional Trans-Himalayan connectivity network—encompassing roads, tunnels, dry ports, aviation, digital links, and cross-border rail," Khanal said. “But connectivity must ultimately be measured not in kilometers of infrastructure, but in the movement of goods, services, investment, tourists, and opportunity.”
"Crucially, our northern partnership must be grounded in the shared science of the Himalayas—glacial monitoring, disaster early warning, hydrological information, climate adaptation, and resilient infrastructure," he said.
"We also seek deeper cooperation in digital connectivity, technology transfer, and innovation, ensuring the mountains do not become a barrier to the next generation of Nepali enterprise," Minister Khanal said. “Guided by transparent financing, rigorous feasibility, and value-for-money principles, Nepal will pursue every opportunity for mutually beneficial cooperation while preserving our sovereign autonomy.”
Khanal further said, “We do not see our northern and southern corridors as competing directions. We see Nepal land-linked to two of the world’s largest markets, home to nearly three billion people. Our ambition is to turn this geography into a gateway for commerce and opportunity.”
Khanal said that after India and China, the third priority is Global reach: Turning engagement into advantage.
"Beyond the neighborhood, we plan to further deepen our partnership with the United States, Europe, Japan, ASEAN, and the Gulf," he said.
