Kathmandu, Oct. 30 -- A month after Prime Minister Balendra Shah proposed establishing a Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism (HCRM) involving Nepal, India and China, the initiative has made little diplomatic headway, with the two ministries concerned still working on a concept note and no formal proposal submitted yet to either neighbour.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Environment are consulting relevant agencies to develop the proposal, but the initiative has yet to move beyond the preparatory stage.

Shah floated the proposal in his address to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 24. The idea received a positive response from several quarters, a...