'Glaciers, floods don't travel with visas': Nepal PM's India-China appeal

NEW DELHI: Nepal PM Balendra Shah called on India and China to join a trilateral Himalayan climate resilience mechanism to share satellite data, jointly monitor dangerous glacial lakes, strengthen early-warning systems and coordinate cross-border disaster response, telling UN General Assembly that climate change “does not recognise borders” after the Aug 26 deluge left at least 1,400 dead and more than 6,000 missing.In his maiden address to UN General Assembly, Shah, 36, said, “Glaciers and floods do not travel with a visa stamped on passports.” His address on Thursday came during his first foreign trip since taking office on March 27. He thanked India and China for their “prompt and generous assistance” after the disaster.Shah said warming was destabilising fragile Himalayan ecology by thawing permafrost, weakening mountain slopes and increasing risks from ice-rock avalanches, floods, landslides and other cascading hazards.