NARAYAN KHADKA, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal, recalled that his country has consistently contributed to the United Nations peace operations for over 63 years.  In that context, he emphasized the importance of ensuring the safety of peacekeepers and the need for adequate training, resources and modern technologies.  As one of the largest troop- and police-contributing countries, Nepal believes that such countries deserve more senior-level positions, both at the headquarters and in the field, based on the level of its contributions, he said.  Turning to climate matters, he said that while Nepal — home to 8 of the world's 14 highest peaks — welcomes climbers from around the world, it expects climbers to bring back their garbage from the high mountains to maintain their sanctity.  Nepal has several snow-fed Himalayan rivers that are connected to identity and civilizations and sustain one fifth of the global population, he stressed.

As both a least developed country and a landlocked developed country, Nepal’s structural challenges are unique, he went on to say.  The country views its plan to graduate from the least developed country category by 2026, as an opportunity to bring structural transformation and make the long-held national aspiration of graduation smooth, sustainable and irreversible.  To achieve those goals, the development of multi-modal transport infrastructure and unhindered transit rights of landlocked nations are critical to their sustainable development, he underscored.

As such, he called for the implementation of past decisions and programmes in full coherence with the 2030 Agenda and said he expects development partners to increase their support to establish a secure, reliable, and efficient transit transport system for the landlocked developing countries.  Moreover, it is time to reform global economic governance architecture to ensure fair and equitable representation of all, he stressed, welcoming the steps taken by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on debt relief and debt service suspension in that regard.