Ram Chandra Poudel has asked Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who is on a two-day visit to the South Asian country, to help release a Nepali student taken captive in Gaza following the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on October 7.

Qatar has played a key mediator role during Israel’s war on Gaza, helping to negotiate a brief truce that led to the release of dozens of captives and Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Sheikh Tamim said he would do everything possible to help release Bipin Joshi, the Nepali president’s press adviser, Kiran Pokharel, told the Associated Press news agency.

Joshi was among 17 Nepali students studying agriculture in Alumim kibbutz, which is near the Gaza Strip, when the attack happened. Ten of the students were killed, six were injured, while Joshi was taken as a captive to Gaza.

There has been no information about his whereabouts, but Nepali officials believe he is still alive.

Source: Al Jazeeera