Pakistan has used imported solar technology to respond to immediate energy costs. Bhutan and Nepal can earn from renewable electricity. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have established export-oriented manufacturing capabilities. India is attempting to develop a broader advanced manufacturing base.
Nepal's PM proposed a "Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism, led by Nepal, India and China. Through this mechanism”, the countries could “share satellite data and expertise.” This could be a good initiative, as it would help predict disasters and prepare for them.
South Asia’s climate risks are shared across countries. Rivers such as the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Indus do not respect national boundaries, and torrential rains in one country can lead to floods in another. Satellite data, flood forecasts and flood warnings could, therefore, be shared to enhance disaster preparedness across the region.
The disasters at Kedarnath and Nepal should therefore be read not simply as tragedies of the past or isolated episodes of extreme weather. They are warnings from a changing mountain system. The question before South Asia is whether we will continue to respond to each disaster after it occurs, or whether we will listen to what the mountains are telling us beforehand.
Responding to media reports on remarks made by the Cabinet Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella at the Cabinet Press Briefing on Thursday (17) in relation to the UN Human Rights Council, Director General of Government Information Nalaka Kaluwewa said the Sri Lankan government has not taken any decision to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC)
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept 25 would focus on Kashmir dispute, the Foreign Office said
A prominent rights activist from Mirpur at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva said that people in Pakistan occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK) were desperate to get freedom and join the Indian union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has donated IT equipment to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) and Maldivian Courts under its grant assistance program
The United Nations has recently shortlisted a number of celebrities and public figures for a film based on actions that can tackle contemporary issues, ranging from COVID-19 to poverty and inequality
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called upon India and Pakistan to move in a positive way to resolve their differences
Afghanistan won a seat at the United Nations Commission on Status of Women for a four-year term, said Afghan embassy to the UN
The opening of the new session of General Assembly marking the start of a landmark year for the UN had eerie echoes of the start of the global organisation 75 years ago when the world was also reeling from a crisis
Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir, who has taken over the UN General Assembly's presidency, has given an assurance that he will promote the Security Council reform process impartially
If the UN can demonstrate a successful example of the global treaty that avoided the calamity at the planetary level, why not the same UN cannot use its convening power to address the global pandemic? writes Rajendra Shende for South Asia Monitor
Contrasting India's reaction to the global coronavirus crisis to that of certain neighbours, India's UN Permanent Representative T S Tirumurti has said that while some countries are taking advantage of the pandemic to enhance terrorism or adopt aggressive policies, New Delhi’s is rushing medical supplies to countries in need, strengthening their national health capacity and helping alleviate the misery it has spawned
Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has hailed India's leadership in supporting vulnerable nations in the Commonwealth, describing it as an "area of hope" for all member countries
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet today expressed concerns over Sri Lanka’s proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution
The world recorded an all-time low under-five deaths in 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in major disruptions to health services that threaten to undo decades of hard-won progress and put millions of additional lives at stake
India has accused Pakistan of spreading a “culture of violence” and suppressing the rights of minorities while Islamabad brings up the Ayodhya temple construction at the UN General Assembly
