Senior US, India officials all set to visit Nepal; Ambassadors to embark on Mugu trip to learn climate change impact


Assistant Secretary of State of the United States of America for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu is scheduled to visit Nepal on November 17.

Lu will hold meetings with Prime Minister She Bahadur Deuba and government leaders, Department of State said in a statement on Saturday. He will come to Nepal after concluding a two day visit to Maldives on 15-16 November.

His visit to Nepal is happening after Vice President of Compact Operations of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Fatema Z. Sumar visited Nepal in early September this year to facilitate the implementation of the MCC’s Nepal Infrastructure Program.

Similarly, Indian Minister for Road, Transportation and Highways Nitin Gadkari, who is also a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader, is visiting Kathmandu on November 18.

Gadkari is arriving in Kathmandu at the invitation of Patanjali Yogpeeth Nepal. Besides Minister Gadkari, Yoga guru Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, chairman of the Patanjali Ayurved, are also reportedly visiting Kathmandu.

During his stay, Gadkari is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and other leaders from the ruling and opposition parties. Gadkari’s visit will be a continuation of visits by several other Bharatiya Janata Party leaders since Deuba took office on July 13.

Meanwhile, ambassadors to Nepal from the US, UK and Australia are preparing for an observation trip to Rara Lake in Mugu to engage with local communities and government leaders to learn about the impact of climate change on mountain communities and ecosystems.

US Ambassador Randy Berry, UK Ambassador Nicola Pollitt and Australian Ambassador Felicity Volk are preparing for a joint trip to Rara Lake next week. They released a group picture of their informal meeting at the embassy and confirmed about the upcoming visit on their official twitter handle.

According to the US Embassy, the ambassadors aim to study the impact of climate change among people in high hilly districts and the overall environment of the country. “We will inform people about immediate action plans to control the impact of climate change here,” read the statement.

“Details of the joint visit will be released soon,” read the statement released by the US Embassy. Last year too, ambassador Berry had visited Shivapuri forest to observe the impact of climate change there.