Kathmandu, Sept. 4
Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has
said that Nepal was in favour of peace, security and abidance of the international
laws in relation to the use of seas.
There is a need of architecture for the sharing of
benefits by all states, Minister Gyawali said while addressing the fourth
Indian Ocean Conference held in the Maldives on Tuesday under the theme of
'Securing the Indian Ocean Region: Traditional and non-traditional challenges'.
He emphasised the need of an architecture based on
inclusiveness, partnership and collaboration among all countries and utilisation
of resources and sharing of the benefits by all states, including the landlocked
countries like Nepal.
Minister Gyawali called for addressing the
non-traditional security threats like trafficking of drugs, weapon and human
beings.
"Since Nepal's international trade passes through
the Indian Ocean, we are concerned about the various non-traditional security
threats, such as piracy, illicit trafficking of drugs and weapons, human
trafficking," he said.
He said that collective actions are essential to address
these threats in an effective manner.
According to him, with a view to connecting Nepal’s mountains with the Indian Ocean, the government
has laid emphasis on establishing seamless connectivity in air, roads and
waterways, aiming at facilitating trade, transit and movement of peoples.
He shared Nepal’s plan of developing inland waterways in
its big rivers in cooperation with India and bringing into operation its own
commercial ships in international waters.
The foreign affairs minister also drew the attention of
the conference to the grave threats posed by climate change to the mountainous
countries and island nations, mentioning that Nepal was bearing the brunt of
the adverse impacts of climate change without being the cause for it.
In view of the ecological interdependence between the
Himalayas and the Indian Ocean, he stressed the need for preserving the
ecological balance in the Himalayas by addressing the adverse effects of
climate change.
Minister Gyawali appealed for meaningful collaboration
between mountainous, coastal and island nations to address the climate crisis.
The conference has been organised by India Foundation,
the Government of the Maldives, Foreign Service Institute of the Maldives, and
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies of Singapore. Heads of State and Government,
foreign ministers, other ministers, parliamentarians, ambassadors, experts and
scholars from 40 countries have been taking part in it.
Meanwhile, in the afternoon the other day, Gyawali paid a
call on the President of the Maldives Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
They discussed various matters of mutual interest,
including promotion of tourism of both countries, employment for Nepali
nationals in the Maldives, common efforts for addressing the adverse impacts of
climate change, and cooperation in regional and global forums for common
interest.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 5 September 2019. 
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