KATHMANDU: Former President Bidya Devi Bhandari has called for stronger cooperation among Himalayan countries, including Nepal, China, and India, in sharing meteorological data, monitoring glaciers, developing early warning systems, and coordinating disaster response.
Addressing the 2026 Global Governance Forum in Xiong’an, Hebei Province, China, earlier today, Bhandari said global governance was closely linked to climate justice. She noted that the unprecedented natural disasters Nepal experienced in August had underscored the gravity of the challenge.
She described the Himalayas as a shared natural heritage that plays a vital role in regional water cycles, biodiversity, and ecological balance.
Bhandari also called for strengthening the United Nations as an effective institution that reflects the diversity and aspirations of the contemporary world. She said peace and development were mutually reinforcing and that ending poverty and hunger, promoting human well-being, and redirecting resources from the arms race towards development were shared responsibilities.
Delivering her speech in Nepali, Bhandari expressed confidence that the forum would foster meaningful deliberations on making the global governance system more just, inclusive, and effective. She also voiced hope that it would create new opportunities for cooperation in promoting world peace, sustainable development, and shared prosperity.
On Nepal-China relations, she noted that bilateral ties had evolved over centuries through cultural exchanges, Buddhist philosophy, and close people-to-people connections. She said the relationship was rooted in the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and based on mutual respect, trust, and cooperation. She also reaffirmed Nepal’s unequivocal commitment to the One-China Policy.
Bhandari said the world was undergoing rapid scientific and technological transformation while facing serious challenges, including economic inequality, poverty, geopolitical tensions, armed conflicts, climate change, and food insecurity.
She observed that protectionism and unilateral approaches had complicated international cooperation, adding that such shared challenges could not be resolved by any single nation and required dialogue and collective commitment.
The former president said the international order, founded on the UN Charter, international law, and multilateralism, had contributed significantly to peace and development. However, she stressed the need for reforms to make the system more inclusive, representative, transparent, and effective.
“Global governance should not be shaped solely by the priorities of a limited number of nations,” she said, adding that differences among nations should be resolved through dialogue and diplomatic means.
She further said the success of global governance should be measured by the positive changes it brought to people’s lives.
The forum was inaugurated by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday evening. A message from Chinese President Xi Jinping was also delivered at the event.
“The world is undergoing accelerated transformation unseen in a century, and the deficits in peace, development, security and governance are growing rather than diminishing,” Xi said in his message.
The message stated that the Global Governance Initiative (GGI) had been put forward to promote a more just and equitable global governance system and help build a better world.
Addressing the forum, Wang called on all countries to uphold the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core, keep development at the center of the international agenda, and fully implement the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
He also called for improving governance rules in emerging fields and ensuring that new frontiers, including the deep sea, polar regions, and outer space, became areas of international cooperation. He further stressed the need to develop an artificial intelligence governance framework based on broad consensus.
Hosted by the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs, the forum is themed “Rebuilding Confidence and Cooperation: Reforming and Improving Global Governance in a Transforming World.”
Nearly 400 representatives from strategic, political, academic, business, media, and youth sectors, representing more than 90 countries and international and regional organizations, including the United Nations, attended the opening ceremony.