'Ask India, Pakistan, Bangladesh': Nepal PM Balen Shah flags broken world order at UNGA

Nepal prime Minister Balendra Shah on Thursday warned the United Nations General Assembly about the devastating impact of climate change. He said catastrophic floods that killed at least 1,400 people in the country highlighted the human cost of a crisis borne most severely by those least responsible for it.Addressing the UN General Assembly, Shah said the crisis was not limited to Nepal and pointed to the wider impact of climate change and conflict across South Asia."We have built a world with flawless logistics for war and broken logistics for food. And this is not Nepal’s private misfortune. Ask Bangladesh, ask Bhutan, ask India, ask the Maldives, ask Pakistan, ask Sri Lanka, ask any other country in our region and you’ll hear the same account."Shah said Nepal and other countries in the region were facing the consequences of crises they had not caused."Hit by the climate we did not warm and again hit by the wars we did not start," said Balen Shah.More than 6,000 people remain missing, while the damage is estimated at around 10 per cent of Nepal’s gross domestic product (GDP).“The Bhotekoshi-Trishuli disaster was not just a local tragedy, it was a warning to the world,” he said. “And I ask you today: have we really heard that warning?”Shah said the warming climate was destabilising the Himalayan ecosystem, with melting permafrost making mountain slopes increasingly unstable and raising the risk of avalanches, floods and landslides.He added that the devastation extended across Nepal’s border with China and downstream into India.“Climate change does not recognize borders. Glaciers and floods do not travel with a visa stamped on passports," Shah said.The floods, triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border on August 26, devastated towns and villages across northern and central Nepal.Nepal's Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority said 5,130 people remain missing, while 13,728 people have been rescued so far. Only 104 bodies have been identified and handed over to their families. Meanwhile, 339 people are undergoing treatment in 19 hospitals, while 3,761 displaced people are staying in 37 holding centres.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.