The Nepal government has reversed an earlier decision. It says that following the devastating flood caused by the glacial collapse, it will allow search and rescue teams from various countries to take part in relief operations.
After last Wednesday’s devastating disaster, Nepal received offers of help from all sides. But the government initially said it did not need assistance from other countries for its search and rescue operations. It said, however, that it did need funds for reconstruction.
But countries whose citizens remain missing kept up pressure on the Nepal government to allow them to send their own search and rescue teams. Ultimately, under diplomatic pressure, the Nepal government reversed its decision.
India, China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh had all requested permission from the Nepal government to have their search and rescue teams assist in the operation.
Nepal’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Lok Bahadur Chhetri, said Friday: “Given the current situation, it is natural for offers of assistance to come in, but our security agencies are conducting search and rescue operations. For now, we do not need this kind of assistance.”
Stepping back from that position, a senior Nepal official told the Kathmandu Post: “There has been considerable pressure from the international community to at least allow search and rescue teams and some experts to work, because their citizens are also missing in this disaster.”
The official added: “We are allowing a limited number of experts to enter certain specific areas.”
The devastating flood swept down the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers last Wednesday after a glacial collapse on the Nepal-Tibet border. As of Friday evening, 579 bodies had been recovered. Five more bodies were recovered in Tibet. Nepal’s disaster management authority said the number of missing in the country has risen to 1,924. Of them, at least 540 are foreign nationals.
Meanwhile, according to Nepal’s tourism board, Indians make up the largest group of missing foreigners, at 178. There are also 65 Americans, 53 Ukrainians, 35 Australians and 33 Britons missing. Citizens of a total of 31 countries have gone missing in the disaster.
Based on an assessment by the National Disaster Management Center (NDMC), the Nepal government has now reversed its earlier decision. Through an inter-ministerial coordination committee, India, China, Australia and South Korea have been given permission to send expert and technical teams. Members of these teams are experienced in tunnel rescue work and DNA and forensic testing.
Alongside providing relief assistance to Nepal, other countries that expressed interest in sending expert teams did not receive a response from the Nepal government.
Officials at the embassies of at least two countries in Kathmandu said dozens of their citizens remain missing. They have been requesting that the Nepal government allow them to send search teams to help in the rescue effort. However, they have not yet received a positive response from the Nepal government.
An official at one embassy told the Kathmandu Post: “Three days have passed. There is still no concrete progress on finding our missing citizens. We are very concerned about them. Even so, our request for assistance is not being taken up.”
Several countries have publicly offered assistance with search and rescue work. India’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, said Friday that India has offered to send a rescue team, a medical team, and members of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
India’s foreign minister, S Jaishankar, spoke Friday with Nepal’s foreign minister, Shishir Khanal. Jaishankar wrote on the social media platform X: “Spoke with Nepal’s foreign minister this morning. We have offered various kinds of assistance. They are evaluating them.”
Jaishankar also said an 11-member team traveled to Nepal alongside the fourth shipment of relief supplies from India. The team includes doctors, paramedics and rescue workers experienced in tunnel rescue operations.
South Korea has also publicly offered assistance. South Korea’s foreign minister, Cho Hyun, spoke with Nepal’s foreign minister, Shishir Khanal, last Thursday. He expressed concern for the safety of South Korean citizens in Nepal. Contact could not be established with nine of them.
In a post on X, Cho Hyun said: “We have requested the Nepal government’s full cooperation so that the emergency assistance team we have sent to the disaster site can carry out search and rescue work without hindrance.”
Nepali officials say foreign assistance will be accepted as needed. On this, Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal told the Kathmandu Post that three areas of assistance have initially been identified, and international assistance is being sought accordingly.