Kathmandu, January 16

Former United States President Jimmy Carter expressed deep concern about the delay in post-earthquake reconstruction work and the woes faced by quake-survivors in the absence of basic food and shelter for long.

During a meeting with Ambassador of Nepal to the USA, Arjun Karki, he also shared his anxiety about the growing humanitarian crisis in Nepal due to the earthquake devastation followed by a prolonged blockade and disruption of supplies to Nepal.

Ambassador Karki had called on Carter at The Carter Centre in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday.

Talking to The Himalayan Times over phone, Karki said the former US head of State expressed concern about the deteriorating ties between Kathmandu and New Delhi following the blockade, and ways to repair relations between the two neighbours.

He further sought to know how Nepal’s political parties — Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and Maoists — saw India in this context and hoped Nepal-India relations would gradually be restored to the point before the blockade.

“Ambassador Karki and Carter discussed mobilising international support for the humanitarian crisis caused by the earthquake and the blockade,” the Embassy of Nepal in Washington DC said in a statement. “They also discussed the challenges in implementation of the new constitution,” it added.

Along with his wife Rosalynn Carter, the 91 years old Nobel Peace laureate was supposed to visit Nepal with a post-earthquake humanitarian project in November. But the visit was called off due to the blockade.

According to Ambassador Karki, Carter had categorically asked whether the new statute ensured 33 percent women representation in Parliament and other state organs.

Ambassador Karki apprised him about the constitutional guarantee for at least 33 percent women representation in the national Parliament as well as state-assemblies and other bodies.