Internal Developments:

Devastating Earth Quake:

1. The devastating earthquake of 7.9 magnitude which shook Nepal on April 25 left over 7800 dead and thousands more injured. Even though the search and rescue phase of the operations has been terminated, observers believe that the death toll may ultimately touch around 10000. Many villages in the central Himalyan region were completely wiped out in the earthquake which was followed by numerous powerful aftershocks.

2. While the full assessment of the damage is still not complete, initial estimates show that 80 per cent of the 60,000 houses in just one district have been damaged — and the figure may reach as high as two lac in the entire country. It is estimated that eight million people have been affected by the massive earthquake; around 1.4 million are in need of food aid. Many UNESCO heritage sites were damaged or destroyed. These included the monastery at the Swayambhunath Stupa, four of the nine world heritage sites in the valley and culturally iconic temples and buildings. These will certainly impact Nepal’s tourism business apart from changing the cultural landscape with deep irreparable deep scars all around.

3. Two of Nepal’s largest hydropower facilities are located in the hardest hit areas; the 144-megawatt Kaligandaki to the west of the epicenter and the 22.1 Mw Chilme plant, north of Kathmandu along the Langtang trekking route. The extent of the structural damage to these is still not known.

India’s Quick Response:

4. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was quick to respond. He summoned an emergency cabinet meeting within an hour of the event on April 25. He spoke to the Nepalese Prime Minister and offered all possible help. The government decided to send four separate teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to Nepal. This was the first and the largest search, rescue and relief team to arrive in Nepal. More than one thousand relief workers and helicopters filled with emergency relief materials landed in Nepal within quickest possible time. Indian teams were every where and assisted the local administrative machinery that was totally inadequate to deal with the national disaster of that magnitude. Governments’ efforts were admirably supported by the overwhelming response from the people of India. Army personnel from a number of countries were rushed in to help in to assist in rescue operations but they are being phased out with more than 1500 of them already sent back. The Nepal army personnel are now leading and coordinating the operations in the 18 worst affected districts.

5. However, a section of the Nepalese media and people who have been traditionally critical of India viewed the Indian efforts negatively, alleging that the rescue teams were only focusing on providing relief to the stranded Indians. They accused the Indian Army helicopters of carrying their own media teams, thus limiting their capacity to help the other earthquake victims. But, by and large, Nepalese people in general and also politicians, excluding the Maoists, were highly appreciative of India’s quick and timely response.

China to work with India to Help Nepal:

6. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a media briefing in Beijing, “China and India are neighbours to Nepal. We should like to work together and coordinate positively with India in our assistance efforts in Nepal to help it to overcome the difficulties and rebuild its homeland.” He was responding a question on the reported remarks by the Nepalese foreign minister Mahendra Bahadur Pandey that Nepal had divided areas between India and China for quake relief. Former Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Zhang Chunxiang while addressing media in Beijing on China’s relations with South Asia also denied any competition between New Delhi and Beijing in trying to help Kathmandu as part of effort to vie for influence in the Himalyan Kingdom.

7. However, with the Indian teams/agencies engaged in relief works in areas close to the Chinese border, the government of China reportedly requested Nepal government not to allow Indian teams to enter the district of Rasuwa nor to allow India to fly in the Chinese flying Zone. This was reported by Annapurna Post without attributing it to any source that the Chinese government had come into action following the Indian agencies entering Nepali lands close to the Chinese border.

International Response and Relief Fund:

8. Nepalese govt. in an emergency meeting of the council of ministers on April 28, decided to deposit NRs. 1 billion in the Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund for rescue and relief and resettlement of the victims of the earthquake. The ministers also decided to contribute one month’s salary of the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. The Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) set up relief fund of NRs. 4 million with 1 million contributions from its own side. According to the Nepalese Finance Minister Dr. Mahat, Nepal might need funds close to $ 7-10 billion for relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts.

9. European Commission is extending a grant assistance of 3 million Euro as an immediate response to the havoc wrecked by the massive earthquake. This assistance was in addition to the bilateral assistance from the member states and deployment of European Commission’s humanitarian aid and civil protection experts to the crisis area.

10. United Nations appealed on April 29 for NRs. 42.1 billion ($ 415 million), urgently needed to provide vital relief to those affected by the devastating earthquake. Japan decided to provide over 800 million US dollars in emergency grant aid to the earthquake victims. According to UN sources, donor response has not been very encouraging so far. Government of Japan also decided to dispatch a rescue team and provide essential materials to Nepal. Christian Paradis, Canada’s Minister of International Development, announced on April 25 that the government of Canada would support experienced humanitarian organisations with $5 million to provide life – saving assistance to meet the urgent needs of people affected by the earthquake.

11. United States sent a disaster response team to Nepal and authorised an initial grant of $ 1 million to address the immediate needs. The Asian Development Bank announced, on April 27, more than USD 200 million in aid for Nepal. On April 26 China sent a 62 – member International Search and Rescue team to Nepal to assist in the humanitarian relief effort. Hong Lei, spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said on April 26, that China was preparing emergency relief materials for Nepal, in addition to the search-and-rescue teams. He said that China was additionally sending 20 million yuan worth of tents, blankets, generators and other materials by charter flights.

12. Bhutan contributed NU 63 million (USD 1 million) to Nepal for rehabilitation efforts in Nepal. This is the first time that Bhutan has assisted another country with such a significant cxontribution. Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay personally handed over a cheque for USD 1M to Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala in Kathmandu on April 27. Tshering Tobgay also conveyed his Majesty the king’s deep concern for the people of Nepal and for their sufferings as a result of earthquake. His Majesty the king and government representatives offered prayers for the victims of earthquake. Bhutan has also sent 63-member medical team to Trishul in Nuwakot district, located 34 km from epicenter of the earthquake.

Review of Developments in Bhutan

Internal - Multi-party platform launched:

1. The five political parties in Bhutan conceptualized jointly to launch a platform named as Bhutan Democracy Dialogue (BDD) to ‘facilitate, nurture and strengthen’ democracy. BDD will aim to achieve mature democratic culture, vibrant democracy, build human and institutional capacity of political parties to strengthen and nurture the Bhutanese democracy. It was felt that the country’s small-knit society was divided on party lines in the last two elections and that Bhutan had experienced, in varying degrees, the ills of democracy. Therefore, it was believed that political co-operation through inter-party dialogue was an important corner stone for effective and sustainable democracy, conflict prevention and peace building and regaining public’s confidence in democratic systems.

External Relations:

2. Ministry of Labour and Human Resources (MoLHR) will be sending 100 youth to work as sales associates in MH Alshaya company in Kuwait this summer, in June or July. The sales associate programme is a direct collaboration between MoLHR and MH Alshanya Company. The company is interested to promote Job opportunities for Bhutanese job seekers and offer specialised training as well. The selected candidates will undergo two-month training in Thimpu, after which, final selection will be done by the recruitment team from MH Alshaya.

Japan to donate 29 new ambulances by next year:

3. Bhutan will receive 29 new ambulances by March next year from Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) under its a grant aid agreement worth NU 89 million with the gross National Happiness Commission. The Chief Representative of JICA Office in Bhutan, Yumiko Asakuma said that with the rapid growth of development in the transport system, these ambulances would contribute to timely health services.