The government has approved the upcoming visit of Prime Minister KP Oli to New York to attend the 79th United Nations General Assembly.

This will be Oli’s first foreign visit after he assumed office on July 15.

Prime Minister Oli will lead the Nepali delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. He is scheduled to address the assembly, take part in the Summit of the Future to be organised by UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres and will hold talks with several world leaders on the sidelines of the general assembly.

The prime minister will address the UN General Assembly on September 26.

“We have sent requests to several world leaders for a meeting with the prime minister on the sidelines of the general assembly,” said a senior foreign ministry official. “We will receive the confirmations gradually.”

A Cabinet meeting on Thursday approved the prime minister’s UN visit, said Prithvi Subba Gurung, who is the government spokesperson. The prime minister will embark on a 11-day-long visit to the United Nations, he said.

The prime minister will lead the official delegation of 19 people, including his spouse Radhika Shakya, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel, Foreign Minister Arzu Rana, adviser to Prime Minister Bishnu Rimal, senior government officials, media persons, security personnel, and private doctors, among others.

Foreign Minister Rana, who is all set to visit Canada ahead of the UN General Assembly, will join the delegation in New York from Canada.

The prime minister and the Nepali delegation will leave for New York on September 20. Oli will participate in the Summit of the Future on September 22 and 23, according to a senior foreign ministry official. “This time, the prime minister will engage in an interaction at Columbia University on September 25 on the topic of ‘Nepal's journey to democracy and economic prosperity’.”

Two former prime ministers Sher Bahadur Deuba and Madhav Kumar Nepal had earlier addressed and interacted at Columbia University, considered one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

On September 26, the prime minister will address the UN General Assembly and will brief world leaders about recent agreements on Nepal’s peace process and Nepal’s push for climate justice, among other things.