29 October 2026
Nepal will stay on the United Nations list of least developed countries for three more years. The General Assembly, meeting in its eighty-first session in New York, agreed without a vote to shift Nepal's graduation date from 24 November 2026 to 24 November 2029. Bangladesh was granted the same three-year extension in the same decision, carried as resolution 81/L.8. Nepal had written to the United Nations in May asking for the delay, saying its economy was not ready to give up the trade privileges that go with least developed country status. The government pointed to weak productive capacity, the unfinished rollout of its Smooth Transition Strategy and the risk to duty-free, quota-free access for its exports. Official studies had warned that employment in productive sectors could fall by as much as 35 per cent if graduation went ahead without transition measures. Nepal was first cleared for graduation in 2021, when it was given an unusually long five-year preparatory period because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
New graduation date:
24 November 2029
Earlier graduation date:
24 November 2026
Extension:
Three years
Resolution:
81/L.8
Other country covered:
Bangladesh
Why it matters for exams: Nepal's LDC graduation date, the organ that decides it (the General Assembly) and the Committee for Development Policy that recommends graduation are standard International Relations questions; the size of the LDC list is asked directly.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
LDC Least Developed Country — A UN category of low-income countries with structural handicaps, which get special trade and aid treatment.
CDP Committee for Development Policy — The UN expert committee that reviews the LDC list every three years and recommends graduation.
28 October 2026
Nepal's Department of Tourism has issued permits to 1,410 climbers from 76 countries for the autumn mountaineering season. The climbers are organised into 161 expedition teams and will attempt 44 peaks. Royalty from the permits came to about Rs 318 million, a little over two million US dollars. Manaslu, at 8,163 metres, drew by far the largest crowd, with 500 climbers in 43 teams, and earned the biggest share of the royalty. Ama Dablam was the next most popular, with 386 climbers in 32 teams, followed by Himlung Himal with 121 and Dhaulagiri I with 37. Of the 1,410 climbers, 341 are women and 1,069 men. China, France, the United States, Russia and the United Kingdom sent the largest national contingents, and 33 of the climbers are Nepali.
Climbers permitted:
1,410
Countries:
76
Peaks:
44
Expedition teams:
161
Royalty collected:
Rs 318 million
Climbers on Manaslu:
500
Why it matters for exams: Manaslu's height and its standing as Nepal's busiest autumn eight-thousander, and the fact that the Department of Tourism issues expedition permits, are durable geography and governance facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Royalty Climbing royalty — The fee Nepal charges each climber for permission to attempt a peak; it is a significant source of tourism revenue.
22 October 2026
The board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage has approved 20 million US dollars, about Rs 3 billion, for Nepal. It is the first allocation the fund has made to any country since it was set up under the UN climate process. The money is meant for relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction in the communities along the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers that were destroyed by the flood of 26 August. Nepal's Minister for Agriculture, Forests and Environment, Gita Chaudhary, and Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle had written to the fund at the end of August asking for urgent assistance. The board cleared the request at a special meeting. Preliminary government estimates put the directly affected population at more than 60,000 people from about 15,000 households. Around 1,500 people died and more than 5,000 were still missing when the grant was approved.
Amount approved:
USD 20 million
In Nepali rupees:
About Rs 3 billion
Rivers affected:
Bhotekoshi and Trishuli
People directly affected:
More than 60,000
Households:
About 15,000
Why it matters for exams: Nepal being the first beneficiary of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage is the kind of 'first' that examiners like, and the fund itself belongs to the UNFCCC climate architecture that is asked about every year.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
FRLD Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage — The climate fund created under the UN climate convention to pay for damage poor countries cannot avoid or adapt to.
UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change — The 1992 treaty under which the COP meetings and the loss and damage fund sit.
6 October 2026
The World Bank's latest half-yearly Nepal Development Update projects slower growth for Nepal. Real output is expected to grow 3.7 per cent in the current fiscal year, FY27, down from 3.9 per cent in the year just ended, with flood damage to hydropower, transmission and transport making industry the main drag on growth. Growth is projected to pick up to 5.2 per cent the following year as reconstruction gathers pace. The report also records some unusually strong external numbers: inflation at 3.1 per cent, a record low and below the central bank's five per cent ceiling, a current account surplus worth 14.0 per cent of GDP, and remittances equal to 35.8 per cent of GDP. Foreign exchange reserves stood at 25.3 billion US dollars, enough for 19.6 months of imports. On the weaker side, the gross non-performing loan ratio reached a record 5.7 per cent and capital spending execution fell to a record low of 46.8 per cent. The Bank put recovery and reconstruction needs after the flood at about 4.8 billion dollars.
Growth forecast, current year:
3.7 per cent
Growth forecast, next year:
5.2 per cent
Inflation:
3.1 per cent
Remittances:
35.8 per cent of GDP
Foreign exchange reserves:
USD 25.3 billion
Reconstruction needs:
About USD 4.8 billion
Why it matters for exams: The Nepal Development Update is the World Bank's named country report for Nepal, and its remittance-to-GDP share is one of the most quoted facts about the Nepali economy.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
NPL Non-performing loan — A loan on which the borrower has stopped paying; a rising ratio signals stress in the banking system.
4 October 2026
Nepal's first Kathmandu Climate Week ran for three days and ended with the adoption of a declaration called the Kathmandu Call for Climate Justice. The declaration sets out sixteen commitments and asks both the international community and the Nepali government for immediate and results-oriented action. The theme of the conference was climate justice for climate resilience, from local action to global climate diplomacy, and it was organised by a coalition of Nepali civil society bodies including Creasion and the Nepal Bar Association. Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal opened the meeting by arguing that the Himalayas are a pillar of global ecological security, noting that Nepal produces less than 0.1 per cent of global greenhouse gases while Himalayan rivers support nearly two billion people downstream. He also announced that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has created a Climate Diplomacy Section to connect what happens on the ground to what Nepal argues in negotiations. Nepal used the platform to press for grant-based climate finance and for a loss and damage fund that is not bogged down in paperwork.
Declaration adopted:
Kathmandu Call for Climate Justice
Commitments in it:
16
Nepal's share of global emissions:
Less than 0.1 per cent
New unit at the foreign ministry:
Climate Diplomacy Section
Why it matters for exams: Named declarations such as the Kathmandu Call for Climate Justice and its sixteen commitments, Nepal's standard climate-diplomacy figure of under 0.1 per cent of global emissions, and the new Climate Diplomacy Section at the foreign ministry are quotable for years.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Climate justice Climate justice — The argument that countries which emitted least should not carry the heaviest cost of a warming climate.
8 October 2026
Nepal and the Sultanate of Oman concluded the second meeting of their Bilateral Consultation Mechanism in Kathmandu. Nepal's Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai and Oman's Undersecretary for Political Affairs, Sheikh Khalifa Al Harthy, co-chaired the talks. The mechanism was set up under a memorandum of understanding signed in 2017, and its first round was held in Muscat in August 2024. The two sides reviewed cooperation in agriculture, trade, tourism, investment, labour migration and culture, and also took up hydropower, air connectivity and health. Nepal briefed Oman on the Bhote Koshi floods and asked for continued support for recovery and reconstruction. Both sides pushed for an early conclusion of a proposed memorandum on labour and manpower exchange, and discussed a proposal for Oman to open an embassy in Kathmandu. They also began planning a joint commemoration of fifty years of diplomatic relations, which falls in 2027.
Meeting number:
Second
Mechanism set up under:
A 2017 memorandum of understanding
First meeting:
Muscat, August 2024
Anniversary being planned:
50 years of diplomatic relations, in 2027
Why it matters for exams: Nepal's Gulf labour corridor and the names of its bilateral consultation mechanisms recur in International Relations papers; Oman's capital and currency are standard world-geography questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
MoU Memorandum of Understanding — A written understanding between governments that records intent but is usually not a binding treaty.
7 October 2026
Nepal and Russia held a round of bilateral consultations in Kathmandu, timed to coincide with the seventieth anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations. Nepal's Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai and Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko co-chaired the talks. The two sides reviewed cooperation in education, human resource development, culture, tourism, trade and investment, and climate change. Nepal raised the position of Nepali nationals who had joined the Russian army, including those reported missing, those held as prisoners of war in Ukraine, and the question of compensation for families. The two countries also exchanged views on regional and multilateral questions. The consultation mechanism itself rests on a protocol signed in 1995.
Anniversary marked:
70 years of diplomatic relations
Consultation protocol signed:
1995
Venue:
Kathmandu
Why it matters for exams: The seventy-year milestone in Nepal-Russia relations, and the Nepali recruits in the Russian army, are the kind of bilateral facts that anchor International Relations questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
25 September 2026
On the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, Nepal convened a high-level event at UN Headquarters in New York titled 'Sagarmatha to the Sea: A Call to Action for a Climate-Resilient Future'. Bhutan, the Maldives, New Zealand, Samoa and Tajikistan co-hosted it with Nepal, with support from the UN Environment Programme and ESCAP. The purpose was to argue that melting mountain ice and rising seas are one problem and not two, linking landlocked mountain states with small island states. Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal described the late-August collapse of rock and glacier ice in the Langtang region as a 'Himalayan Tsunami'. He told the meeting that the Himalayan region holds more than 63,700 glaciers and that Nepal has lost close to a third of its ice in three decades. He set out five propositions, among them keeping the 1.5 degree limit within reach and capitalising the loss and damage fund properly. Nepal also used the event to recall that it hosted the first Sagarmatha Sambaad in 2025 and plans a second edition.
Event:
Sagarmatha to the Sea: A Call to Action for a Climate-Resilient Future
Venue:
UN Headquarters, New York
Co-hosts:
Bhutan, Maldives, New Zealand, Samoa, Tajikistan
Glaciers in the Himalayan region:
More than 63,700
Ice lost in three decades:
Close to one-third
Why it matters for exams: 'Sagarmatha' as the Nepali name of Everest, the Sagarmatha Sambaad dialogue and the 63,700 Himalayan glaciers figure are all repeatable one-mark facts.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
ESCAP Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific — The UN's regional commission for Asia and the Pacific, based in Bangkok.
Sagarmatha Sambaad Sagarmatha Dialogue — Nepal's own global dialogue platform on mountains, climate and sustainability, first held in 2025.
14 September 2026
Nepal has established diplomatic relations with the Federated States of Micronesia, a Pacific island country. The two sides signed a joint communique through their permanent representatives at the United Nations in New York. Nepal was represented by its Permanent Representative Lok Bahadur Thapa, and Micronesia by its Permanent Representative Jeem S. Lippwe. The Nepali foreign ministry said the new relationship takes to 185 the number of countries with which Nepal has diplomatic relations. Nepal has been widening its circle of partners among small states, and had announced relations with Guinea-Bissau earlier in the same month. For Nepal, closer ties with Pacific island countries also fit its climate diplomacy, which argues that mountain countries and island countries face the same crisis from opposite ends. The Maldives and Samoa were among the co-hosts of Nepal's own mountains-and-oceans event at the United Nations soon afterwards.
New partner:
Federated States of Micronesia
Countries Nepal now has relations with:
185
Instrument signed:
Joint communique
Signed at:
The United Nations, New York
Why it matters for exams: The number of countries Nepal has diplomatic relations with, and the Pacific location of the Federated States of Micronesia, are clean factual questions; such 'relations established' items are standard current affairs fare.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Joint communique Joint communique — A short signed statement by which two states announce a shared decision, often the opening of relations.
24 September 2026
Nepal has completed three years as chair of the group that coordinates the least developed countries at the United Nations, and has handed the post to The Gambia. The handover was made in New York during the General Assembly's high-level week, at the yearly ministerial meeting that the foreign ministers of these countries hold. Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal spoke as outgoing chair of the LDC Global Coordination Bureau. Angola, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Sudan were newly elected to the Bureau for the next term. Khanal said Nepal's chairmanship had secured a dedicated summit for the least developed countries at the fourth Financing for Development conference and had shaped the Sevilla outcome document. He pointed out that the 44 least developed countries are home to more than a billion people, and that only 36 per cent of the Sustainable Development Goal targets are on track worldwide. The meeting's theme concerned speeding up the Doha Programme of Action, whose midterm review falls in March 2027.
Outgoing chair:
Nepal
Incoming chair:
The Gambia
Length of Nepal's chairmanship:
Three years
Newly elected to the Bureau:
Angola, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sudan
LDCs:
44, with over one billion people
Why it matters for exams: Who chairs the LDC Global Coordination Bureau, and that the Doha Programme of Action is the LDCs' ten-year plan, are precisely the facts asked in International Organisations questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
DPoA Doha Programme of Action — The ten-year action plan for the least developed countries adopted at the LDC5 conference in Doha.
Background
Nepal's run of diplomacy this autumn, from the consultations with Oman and Russia in Kathmandu to the communique with Micronesia in New York, was carried by three offices worth knowing. Political direction comes from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shisir Khanal, who delivered Nepal's statements at the General Assembly and opened Kathmandu Climate Week. The ministry's administrative head is the Foreign Secretary, Amrit Bahadur Rai, who co-chaired both the Oman and Russia consultation rounds; bilateral consultation mechanisms are conducted at that official level rather than by ministers. At the United Nations, Nepal is represented by its Permanent Representative, Lok Bahadur Thapa, who signs instruments such as joint communiques on Nepal's behalf. The ministry has also created a Climate Diplomacy Section, a sign that climate has become a permanent subject of Nepali foreign policy rather than an occasional one. The ministry's seat is in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital.
Minister for Foreign Affairs:
Shisir Khanal
Foreign Secretary:
Amrit Bahadur Rai
Permanent Representative to the UN:
Lok Bahadur Thapa
Capital and seat of the ministry:
Kathmandu
Why it matters for exams: Knowing that bilateral consultations are foreign-secretary-level work, while permanent representatives sign at the UN, prevents the commonest mistake in diplomacy questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Permanent Representative Permanent Representative — A country's ambassador to an international organisation such as the United Nations.
Background
Nepal's reaching 185 diplomatic partners with the Micronesia communique, and its spell as chair of the least developed countries at the United Nations, both rest on a set of standing facts. Kathmandu is the capital, the Nepalese rupee the currency and Nepali the official language. Nepal is landlocked, with land borders on only two countries: India on the east, south and west, and China's Tibet region to the north. It joined the United Nations in 1955 and is a founder member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, whose permanent secretariat has sat in Kathmandu since 1987. Nepal is also a member of BIMSTEC, which brings together countries around the Bay of Bengal, and of the Non-Aligned Movement. Because it has no sea coast it belongs to the UN group of landlocked developing countries, and because of its income and vulnerability scores it remains in the least developed countries category. Those two labels are what give Nepal its voice on trade access and climate finance.
Capital:
Kathmandu
Currency:
Nepalese rupee
Official language:
Nepali
Land neighbours:
India and China
SAARC secretariat:
Kathmandu, since 1987
UN membership:
1955
Why it matters for exams: The SAARC secretariat's location in Kathmandu, Nepal's two neighbours and its LDC and landlocked status are among the most frequently asked facts about the country.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
SAARC South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation — The eight-member South Asian grouping founded in 1985, with its secretariat in Kathmandu.
BIMSTEC Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation — A grouping of seven countries around the Bay of Bengal, including Nepal and Bhutan.
LLDC Landlocked Developing Country — A UN category of developing countries with no sea coast, which face higher trade costs.