KATHMANDU, FEB 15 – Nepal has officially made a request to Qatar to give up its presidential candidacy for the 66th UN General Assembly (PGA 2011-12).

However, both countries are adamant on the PGA post and they have agreed to continue bilateral consultations in this respect in the coming days.

In meetings with visiting Sate Minister for International Cooperation Dr. Khalid Bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah on Tuesday, Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal and Deputy Prime Minister Bharat Mohan Adhikari made separate requests, stressing that Nepal has the greater claim to the post for various reasons. Nepal and Qatar are vying for the UN’s top post this time from the Asian group.

The Nepali side conveyed that Nepal announced its candidacy nine years back, it played an important role in UN after joining the global body in 1955, was elected twice to the UN Security Council and is among the sixth largest troop contributing country to the UN’s various peacekeeping missions.

Both sides maintained that formal consultations have begun in respect to the candidacy but agreed to contest the election in a very friendly way and based on fair play. “The PGA election should not bring mar the excellent political and economic bilateral relations that exist between the two countries,” the prime minister’s Foreign Relations Advisor Milan Tuladhar told the Post.

The Qatari minister, here as a special envoy of the Qatari Prime Minister, said the Emir of Qatar is keen on seeing Qatar lead the UN general assembly. “We are friendly countries, and there is no need to make a ruckus over the claim,” he said. He added that Qatar is investing more than US $ 150 billion on execution of various infrastructure projects within 2020 where vast opportunities for foreign employment exist. The official guest returns home Wednesday morning

“We both agreed that the election dynamics and bilateral economic relations are two different issues. Whoever wins, it will not affect bilateral relations,” said Tuladhar.

If the Asian troika—Fiji, Pakistan and Iran—fail to reach a conclusion by Feb. 25 on a common candidate, the UN will hold a secret ballot in September.
By Anil Giri, The Kathmandu Post, Published on: 2011-02-16