Kathmandu is all set to welcome the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on Tuesday with the government announcing a public holiday. Many social media users have criticised the government decision to declare a holiday as unnecessary.

The government has, however, defended its decision. A senior official at the Ministry of Home Affairs said such a holiday is in line with a tradition Nepal has been observing for several years.

“At the invitation of President Ramchandra Paudel, the Emir of Qatar is paying a State Visit to Nepal and on this occasion, as per the Cabinet decision, a public holiday has been announced for Tuesday throughout the country,” a notice issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs reads.

After the President receives the emir at Kathmandu airport, the emir will later call on President Paudel at the President's Office. The two leaders will then head to Hotel Soaltee for a state banquet hosted by the President in honour of the state guest.

The emir’s delegation will have 80 members including 10 incumbent ministers. Several members of the Qatari security team are already in Kathmandu and are staying at two hotels where two major functions are being held, according to a senior security official.

This will be the first high-level visit to Nepal from the Gulf nation, which hosts approximately 400,000 Nepali migrant workers, and the government has accordingly decided to accord him high honour as per the set protocol, said the officials.

President Paudel and the emir will hold talks on Tuesday evening, followed by a state banquet.

Announcing the visit on Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal will lead the Nepali delegation in the bilateral talks. The prime minister will host a luncheon in honour of the emir and the visiting delegation on Wednesday. After this the two countries will sign several memorandums of understanding.

“Initially, we proposed to sign around nine to ten agreements, but they have been trimmed down to five,” spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amrit Rai, told the Post.

On Monday, the Cabinet approved two memorandums of understanding related to higher education and scientific research—a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the field of youth and sports, and another on higher education and scientific research. Three other MoUs are in other fields. Besides signing agreements, Nepal is also gifting two elephants to the Qatar emir.

“The visit will open more vistas of cooperation between the two sides. We hope that after the visit, more tourists will come to visit Nepal. The visit of the Emir of Qatar will for sure positively impact our tourism sector. During the talks, more issues of mutual interest will be discussed,” said Rai.

According to the government officials privy to the visit, the Nepali side will raise the issues and plights of Nepali workers in Qatar, request the signing of a new labour agreement, and provision of a comprehensive insurance coverage for Nepali migrant workers in the Gulf nation.

Currently, Qatar provides insurance for Nepali migrant workers only during work hours, and we will make a case for extending this coverage round-the-clock, a senior official at the Ministry of Labour told the Post.

Early on Monday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a press statement urging Bangladesh (where the Emir went first) and Nepal “to prioritise labour protections for migrant workers” during Al-Thani’s visit.

“It is important for Qatar, Bangladesh, and Nepal to go beyond exchanging diplomatic pleasantries over their longstanding labour ties and seize this moment to publicly commit to concrete, enforceable protections that address the serious abuses that migrant workers in Qatar continue to face,” the statement quoted Michael Page, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, as saying.

During the delegation-level talks in Kathmandu, Prime Minister Dahal will request the Qatari delegation to invest in various sectors like hydropower, infrastructure and state-of-the-art stadiums in Nepal.

As Qatar is rich and has expertise in building large infrastructure projects, we will ask them to invest in big projects in Nepal as well as in building a football or cricket stadium,” said Nepali officials familiar with the visit agenda.

Similarly, Prime Minister Dahal has already stated that he will seek Qatar’s support and intervention for the safe release of Nepali student Bipin Joshi, who has been held hostage by Hamas militants since October 7 last year.

Joshi, who had reached Israel under the ‘learn and earn’ programme was caught up in the war on October 7 when Hamas militants raided southern Israel and killed hundreds of Israelis. Joshi’s whereabouts remain unknown. Ten Nepali nationals were killed and at least a dozen Nepali students were injured during the Hamas attack on Israel.

Qatar has been trying to mediate a hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.

Meanwhile, the two elephants to be gifted to the Qatar monarch are two and five years old, said Badri Raj Dhungana, spokesperson at the Ministry of Forest. The Cabinet has yet to make a formal decision regarding the gifting of the animals.

A proposal of gifting two elephants has reached the Cabinet via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Since elephants fall under the category of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora [CITES], no side can give and accept elephants without prior approval from CITES headquarters in Geneva. We have already obtained permission, but as far as I know, the Qatari side was waiting for Geneva’s approval. As soon as the permission is obtained, we will present the elephants to the emir,” said Dhungana.

The two elephants Khagendra Prasad and Rudrakali have been bred in Chitwan. “Our people also visited the royal zoo of Qatar, and the Qatari officials visited the breeding centre in Chitwan,” said Dhungana.

Khagendra is five years old and Rudrakali is three years old.

Earlier Nepal used to gift only rhinos, crocodiles and other animals. Nepal has already given 26 rhinos as presents to foreign dignitaries and other offices.