Kathmandu appealed for international financial assistance after devastating floods near its border with Tibet, but said it was coping without foreign rescue teams.
“Our focus is on search and rescue right now,” said foreign ministry spokesman Lok Bahadur Chhetri.
He said Nepal’s security forces were capable of handling rescue operations, but the government would request specialised foreign expertise if needed.
“It is not that we will not need help, but our security network is capable and working effectively right now,” he said.
“If Nepal needs any specialised help or expertise, then we will request it.”
The prime minister’s office has appealed for funds to help recover from the disaster, both domestic and international.
“Several friendly countries and international organisations have pledged help and assistance, and it is in process,” he said.
“We have felt tremendous goodwill for Nepal.”
The Kathmandu Post reported that India, China, the United States, Britain, Japan, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh had asked the government to allow their search-and-rescue teams to assist in the operation.
South Korea’s foreign ministry said Nepal had indicated it was not yet planning to accept foreign rescue teams.
“South Korea will keep negotiating with Nepal over the matter,” the ministry added.
Seoul has pledged US$1mil (RM4mil) in humanitarian assistance through international organisations, its foreign minister said on X.
Nine South Koreans working in a hydropower plant were missing and 10 were stranded, South Korea’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
Nepal’s mountainous terrain and difficult access to the flood-hit northern border area have complicated rescue efforts, but the country has experienced helicopter rescue pilots used to carrying out emergency flights in its Himalayan regions.
The country also faced challenges coordinating multiple foreign rescue teams after a devastating earthquake in 2015, when dozens of international teams arrived to help search for survivors.
Meanwhile, China’s Politburo met on Friday to direct rescue work after the catastrophic mudslide and flash flooding that struck areas along Nepal’s border with China’s Tibet, state media reported.
Authorities must “scientifically formulate search-and-rescue plans, make every effort to search for missing people from China and abroad,” the meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping said, according to state news agency Xinhua.
The meeting said rescue work faced “extremely difficult challenges” and called for stronger monitoring of glacier lakes, landslide risks and barrier lakes, emergency aid to affected areas in Nepal, and closer international disaster cooperation. — AFP/Reuters
