Online Khabar

Kathmandu, October 2 . Deputy Prime Minister did not utter a word about the India-imposed covert blockade at the 70^th session of the United Nations General Assembly, though he found time to talk about Iran, Cuba and Palestinians’ rights.

His six-page written speech threw cold water on expectations that the senior minister will internationalise the issue.

He thanked India and other international partners for providing assistance to Nepal in the aftermath of earthquakes that rocked the country.

We are indebted to the United Nations, the international community, India and China for providing humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of the earthquake, he said referring to the April 25 disaster. “We hope to receive similar assistance in our reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts.”

Even ties between Cuba and the US figured in Singh’s speech and so did nuclear agreement between Iran and the US. And he expressed concern about Palestinian people’s rights. But he kept mum on the unprecedented crisis in Nepal caused by the blockade. He vaguely raised the issue of landlocked countries’ rights, though, calling on the international community to ensure such countries’ unrestricted access to the sea. The countries concerned should honour provisions that ensure landlocked countries’ transit rights, he said.

Singh informed that the recently-promulgated constitution has institutionalised the federal democratic republic.