Minister for Foreign Affairs Sahana Pradhan Friday said the Bhutan government’s unwillingness to sit for talks had almost brought to an end the bilateral process for a solution to the Bhutanese refugee crisis.

Speaking to journalists after launching a report of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Kathmandu, Pradhan said the Bhutanese ministers had informed about their inability to hold the talks citing their resignation from ministerial posts.

Seven Bhutanese ministers including Prime Minister Khandu Wangchuk resigned en masse on Thursday morning, intending to join party politics for the upcoming election, the first democratic election in the history of the dragon Kingdom, which is scheduled for March next year.

Pradhan said there was no option now before Nepal government than to try other alternatives for finding solution to the protracted refugee crisis. “The possibility of bilateral dialogue with Bhutan has almost ended,” she said.

She also hinted that government could decide to start the procedure for resettlement of the refugees in third countries including the United States. The US government has pledged to resettle at least 60,000 of the refugees in the US. Canada and Australia each offered to resettle 5,000 refugees.

The establishment of Out Processing Entity (OPE) by the US government has already begun in Damak, Jhapa district, where formal procedures of resettlement of the refugees will be carried out. The US government is planning to start the process by early September.

Nepal had asked the Bhutanese government to sit for final round of bilateral talks on the refugee crisis. Earlier in November, the Bhutanese ministers had postponed the scheduled talks saying they were busy with the birthday celebration of their fourth King.