6 Nepal's Role in the United Nations, SAARC and BIMSTEC

6.1 United NationsMember since 14 December 1955 (the 1955 package of post-colonial and small-state admissions); twice a non-permanent Security Council member (1969–70 and 1988–89) — a rare distinction for a small state; consistent participation in peacekeeping since 1958 (the first missions in the Middle East), now among the largest troop/police contributors (tens of thousands of Nepali peacekeepers served across dozens of missions — in Congo, South Sudan, Lebanon, Mali, Haiti and elsewhere; Nepali peacekeepers' sacrifice memorialized in New York); host of the UN's regional presence; party to the major human-rights instruments; a member-state archetype of the Charter's faith: the UN as the small state's constitution of world politics (Article 51's self-defence frame, the 1955 admission as Nepal's second declaration of independence). Nepal's UN advocacy: LDC leadership, landlocked-state causes (Unit 6), peacekeeping's voice (the "Champion of Peacekeeping" activism), and its candidature culture.6.2 SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation)Founded 8 December 1985 (Dhaka) by seven states (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka; Afghanistan the eighth, 2007) — an initiative whose South Asian- cooperation advocacy credit Nepal shares (King Birendra's pre-1985 proposals; the first summit's Kathmandu connection via the secretariat decision: the SAARC Secretariat sits in Kathmandu, Nepal's institutional prize). Nepal hosted the third (1987) and eighteenth (2014) summits. Achievements to cite: the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA, 2006)…