Sep 03, 2026 15:03 pm IST

Opinion | Nepal's 'Climate Compensation' Pitch Is Valid, But Its Demand From India Isn't

Nepal's vulnerability gives it a claim on multilateral climate finance. It does not follow that India bears responsibility for this.

Syed Akbaruddin Syed Akbaruddin Columnist

Syed Akbaruddin Columnist

When a flood sweeps through a mountain valley in Nepal, the debris does not need a visa to enter Indian strategic thinking. The surge that tore through the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli river system on August 26 carried water, rock, mud, homes, and human lives. It also carried a question across the border: should India be asked to pay for a climate disaster for which no Indian responsibility has been established?

Nepal has formally asked the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) for urgent support. Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has publicly named China, the United States, and India as countries with a "historical responsibility to compensate vulnerable nations like Nepal". No quantified compensation claims against these countries have been made public.

Khanal's argument moves too quickly from a general claim about climate injustice to a demand directed at India. Prime Minister Balen Shah later put the case more carefully in Parliament. "There is a global contribution behind climate change. And the responsibility to manage and........

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