Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal informed Nepal's National Assembly on July 1, 2026, that the government submitted a formal request to the United Nations on May 13, 2026, to defer Nepal's graduation from Least Developed Country status from 2026 to November 24, 2029. He cited economic and geopolitical challenges as the basis for the request. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also listed the deferral as an achievement in its 100-days-of-government report released on July 4, 2026.
During the same National Assembly address, Khanal categorized as baseless the viral rumors of a US-Nepal military pact to extract uranium in the Mustang region. He reaffirmed Nepal's commitment to a non-aligned foreign policy.