Nepalis can be top peacekeepers: Yadav

KATHMANDU, Oct 15 - The United Nations has agreed to include more Nepal Army (NA) personnel at higher levels in UN peacekeeping operations, Minister for Foreign Affairs Upendra Yadav said Tuesday. Given the good and important role that Nepal has played in its peacekeeping operations the UN has agreed to ...

"So far there have been few opportunities for the NA at higher levels," said Yadav who returned home Tuesday after participating in the 63rd UN General Assembly.

There have been four NA generals who served as UN peacekeeping mission force commanders and one who served at UN headquarters as adviser to the Secretary-General, according to spokesman of the NA, Brigadier Ramindra Chettri.

"There was some delay [by the UN] in appointing Nepalis to command positions," said Chettri. Out of the 60 years of UN peace keeping operations, Nepal has been involved for 50 years. At present, NA personnel are serving in 13 different countries including Congo and Haiti, which have the highest number of Nepali peacekeepers.

There has also been an agreement on increasing the number of Nepali peacekeeping troops from the current level of 3,700 to 5,000, Yadav said at the press conference at the airport.

As per the agreement between the government and the UN, Nepal can provide up to 5,000 Nepali peacekeepers at one time. And while earlier Nepali peacekeepers went on UN missions on dry lease, under which troops go with their weapons and the bare minimums, more troops now go under wet lease, which means the countries providing troops also provide vehicles and other logistics against subsequent reimbursement.

At the UN, Minister Yadav addressed the ministerial meeting of least developed countries, highlighting the problems of their underdevelopment and growing marginalisation in an increasingly globalised economy, and also the high-level plenary meeting devoted to landlocked developing countries, according to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release.

He met high-ranking UN officials including the under secretary-general for peacekeeping. On the sidelines of the general assembly he met the foreign ministers of India, Sri Lanka, Austria and Iran and attended an informal meeting of the SAARC council of ministers, the press release said.

While in the US, Foreign Minister Yadav went to Washington DC and had a two and half-hour meeting with US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher.  They discussed US support for Nepal's development efforts, duty free quota free access for Nepali products, updating of the US travel advisory on Nepal and Bhutanese refugees.

"The US is interested in economic and power development," he said.

Asked about preferential market access for Nepali readymade garments, Yadav said "The US will again consider making US markets accessible for Nepali garments. A new decision on this will come soon.

Nepali readymade garments used to get preferential access to US markets but that ended in 2004 when the multi-fibre agreement, a special provision, replaced an earlier arrangement on 1 January 2005. The agreement governed world trade in textiles and garments since 1974.

Foreign Minister Yadav also visited Denmark on his way to the UN General Assembly and South Korea on his way home.

In Denmark he inaugurated the chancery of the Nepalese embassy and met his Danish counterpart, Per Stig Moller, who is visiting Nepal from November 26 to 29.

"South Korea needs a big labour force," Yadav said. "South Korea has agreed to create a conducive atmosphere for the continuity of employment for Nepalis.