Cooperation and Collaboration Amidst the Crisis – Nepal

By: HK Shrestha

The Covid-19 pandemic has defied national boundaries and has vindicated our shared vulnerability to this new phenomenon. It has underscored the imperative need to redouble concerted efforts at every level – national, regional, and international level to defeat the disease. In my mind, multilateralism is key for unleashing synergetic actions to overcome the current crisis. The pandemic has amply brought home the necessity to revisit the narrative of regional and international security.

Equally critical is the imminent fallout in the aftermath of the pandemic, which the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has rightly termed as After Corona (AC) in terms of global economic and financial downturn. For a country like Nepal, with weak economic foundation, the consequence will be severe. Tourism industry, backbone of the economy, is hard hit. Remittance has been dwindled.

Irrespective of the hardships, we are resolute to fight the disease by rigorously following the standard health protocol and through close cooperation and collaboration with our immediate neighbors, regional groups, and international community. The recent initiative by the South Asian leaders to work closely in the fight against the disease is an example. The lessons and best practices of China and it’s readiness to help the affected countries is also equally welcome sign.

Acting collectively and resolutely, we will be able to save the precious lives of people and wipe out the scourge from the face of the world sooner than later.

With these optimistic note,

HK Shrestha, Kathmandu