Kathmandu, Sept. 3 -- Reversing an earlier decision to send Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal, the government has decided that Prime Minister Balendra Shah will lead Nepal's delegation to the UN General Assembly.

The decision came after pressure from lawmakers, ministers and leaders of Shah's Rastriya Swatantra Party for him to attend the annual UN gathering and highlight the scale of the recent disasters in Nepal, according to informed sources.

Following the decision, Khanal instructed the Foreign Ministry's United Nations and Chief of Protocol divisions, as well as Nepal's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York, to begin preparations for the Shah-led delegation.

"The visit would be short," said a Foreign Ministry official. "We have sta...