Nepal only accepting goods, not rescue personnel, says Khaled

Defence minister Khaled Nordin revealed that Nepal has decided to only accept aid as goods, not rescue personnel, in response to the floods and landslides that hit Rasuwa district near the Tibetan border on August 26. Khaled stated that this move was likely an attempt to prevent coordination issues that could arise when dealing with multiple foreign rescue teams.

Utusan Malaysia reported the defence minister's comments after an event with the Reserve Officer Training Unit (Palapes) at Universiti Malaysia Perlis. Khaled emphasized that Nepal would be prepared to receive Malaysia's Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) at any time, but warned that too many rescue teams could lead to chaos.

However, Khaled clarified that sending goods is not a problem and that these supplies may be necessary. The Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, had announced that Malaysia would deploy SMART to Nepal, following the initial unaccounted for 132 Malaysians, of which 77 have been located and will be returned to Malaysia, while 55 remain missing.

Nepal had previously declined offers from foreign search-and-rescue teams, claiming their own rescuers were capable of handling the operations, but later changed their stance due to diplomatic pressure.