- Rabi Lamichhane urged India, China, and Nepal to collaborate on climate change challenges
- He highlighted the need for a joint early warning system after Nepal's flash floods
- Lamichhane described the Himalayas as one mountain system crossing national borders
Nepal's ruling party Rastriya Swatantra Party's president Rabi Lamichhane has appealed to India and China to work with Kathmandu on the challenges of climate change and develop an early warning system.
Speaking at the NDTV World Anviksha Summit in Kathmandu, a day after flash floods devastated parts of Nepal, Lamichhane said the tragedy has shown that the three countries need to work together.
Noting that India, China and Nepal are "three countries but one mountain system", the RSP president said the raging water doesn't recognise territories.
"The water that took lives on Wednesday didn't stop to ask whose territory it was or whose people it was killing," he said.
Warning that the Himalayas are changing "faster than our institutions", Lamichhane gave an urgent call for collective action.
"Glaciers are receding. Lakes are forming where there was ice. The most urgent need is for Nepal, India and China to work together to mitigate climate change and build early warning systems."
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Noting that climate change is already a reality, he called for an adaptation plan.
"Since the climate has already changed, we have to come up with an adaptation plan. We may not be able to stop glaciers from melting, we may stop being surprised by it and give families in the valley those crucial 20 minutes when they decide if they need to leave."
In his address at the summit, Lamichhane also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for calling Nepal Prime Minister Balen Shah and for India's immediate relief supplies that landed on Wednesday night itself.
Giving an account of the flood devastation, Lamichhane said the flash floods wiped out several villages and hydropower plants.
"Homes are gone, bridges are gone. Families are waiting to hear about the missing relatives," he said.
