RismadarVoice Reporters, August 28, 2026
Nepal has declined offers from foreign countries to deploy search-and-rescue teams following a devastating flash flood that swept through several communities near the country’s border with China, saying its own security agencies are currently handling the rescue operation.
Nepal’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the country did not require foreign search-and-rescue assistance “for now,” despite offers from several nations whose citizens are among those missing after the disaster.
“The offer for help is natural. Our security agencies are doing the search-and-rescue operation. For now we don’t require such help,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lok Bahadur Chhetri said.
The flash flood struck several areas, including Rasuwa district near the Chinese border, destroying parts of towns, damaging hydropower facilities and killing close to 500 people, according to reports.
Hundreds of foreign nationals remain missing. South Korea said nine of its citizens working at a hydropower plant were missing, while another 10 people were stranded.
South Korea has already sent a response team to Nepal and said it plans to dispatch a disaster relief team. However, its Foreign Ministry said Nepal had indicated that it was not currently planning to accept foreign rescue teams.
“South Korea will keep negotiating with Nepal over the matter,” the ministry said.
Seoul has also pledged $1 million in humanitarian assistance through international organisations.
Reports indicated that India, China, the United States, Britain, Japan, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh had all asked Nepal to allow their search-and-rescue teams to participate in the operation.
SENSITIVITY AROUND TIBET BORDER
Nepal’s decision has raised questions over whether the location of the disaster may have influenced its position.
Dinesh Bhattarai, a former Nepali ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, suggested that the government’s reluctance to accept foreign rescue teams could be connected to the sensitivity of Rasuwa district, which borders China’s Tibet region.
“They may have thought about the locational sensitivity of the region and decided not to accept foreign teams,” Bhattarai said.
Nepal’s Foreign Ministry rejected that explanation, saying the decision was based on the ability of its own rescue agencies to conduct the operation and was not related to China’s concerns over Tibet.
China has also been conducting rescue operations on its side of the border. Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited the disaster-stricken area of Gyirong on Thursday and directed rescue authorities to strengthen coordination over cases involving foreign nationals.
“So long as there is even the slightest hope, the utmost effort must be made,” Li said, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.
Chinese President Xi Jinping also expressed condolences to Nepal over the disaster.
Nepal continues to search for people missing in the floods as authorities monitor the situation and assess the damage caused by the disaster.
