Pokhara, Nov. 14
President of Bangladesh Mohammad Abdul Hamid received a
grand welcome in Pokhara, the capital city of Gandaki State, on Thursday.
The visiting president arrived in Pokhara at 11:45 am in a
Nepal Army helicopter. He was accompanied by Minister for Physical
Infrastructure Raghubir Mahaseth.
State Chief Amik Sherchan, Acting Chief Minister Kiran
Gurung, Speaker of the Provincial Assembly Netra Nath Adhikari, provincial
ministers and chiefs of local bodies welcomed President Hamid.
The Bangladeshi President is on a 4-day goodwill visit to
Nepal.
The visiting president went for boating at the Fewa Lake
where he spent about half an hour.
Speaking at the luncheon organised by the State government
in his honour, President Hamid said that he was hypnotised by the beauty of the
Pokhara Valley.
"I have heard much about the beauty of Pokhara. Boating
in the Fewa Lake and observing the surrounding beauty will be a lifetime memory
for me," he said.
Extending an invitation to the Chief Minister to visit
Bangladesh, he said that he found Pokhara one of the best tourist destinations
in the world.
He was welcomed by
Internal Affairs Minister of the State Hari Bahadur Chuman in Rupakot, a
tourist area atop the hill in the east of the valley.
President Hamid was particularly enchanted by the majestic
Himalayas in the north.
Pokhara Metropolitan City had welcomed him with traditional
cultural exhibition, and Rupakot Rural Municipality welcomed with indigenous
culture and panchebaja. Local Muslim community also welcomed him with
traditional cultural activities.
President Hamid stayed about an hour and a half at Rupakot
and observed Fewa Lake, Rupa Lake, Begnas Lake and high Himalayas from there.
He inquired with the local representatives about the
development of road, water supply, irrigation and electricity infrastructure in
the Himalayan and hill regions.
Acting CM Gurung said that the visit of the Bangladeshi
president would support in promoting tourism in Pokhara. He said that the State
had considered tourism as the main base of prosperity.
"President Hamid's visit has suddenly increased the
importance of Pokhara. At the same time, it's a matter of a great pleasure that
the visiting top-level guest had extended an invitation to the Chief Minister
for the visit of Bangladesh," he said.
Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment Minister of the
State Bikas Lamsal said that the visit of President Hamid would increase
Bangladeshi tourists in Pokhara as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit
to Muktinath had increased Indian tourist there.
About 25,000 Bangladeshi tourists visit Nepal every year.
Earlier, British Queen Elizabeth II and Indian President
Radhakrishnan had visited Pokhara in 1961 and 1963 respectively.
He left Pokhara for Kathmandu at 4 pm.
President Hamid is scheduled to visit the Chandragiri Hill
in Kathmandu on Friday morning.
Earlier on Wednesday, he held a bilateral meeting with
President Bidya Devi Bhandari in Kathmandu.
Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Chairman of the National
Assembly Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, Chairman of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP)
Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda and Chairman of Nepali Congress Sher Bahadur Deuba
paid a courtesy call with the visiting president on the same day.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali called on
him on Tuesday.
They talked about transforming the existing cordial and
traditional relations into economic partnership so that both the countries
benefit from it.
President Hamid and PM Oli talked about enhancing the
relations network, energy cooperation, using ports in Bangladesh,
infrastructure construction, tourism development and trade promotion between
the two countries.
The meeting emphasised on enhancing the bilateral trade
between Nepal and Bangladesh by utilising the ports and border entry points
provided by the latter and supply Nepali goods to the Bangladeshi market.
PM Oli urged the visiting president to motivate Bangladeshi
investors to make investment in energy projects in Nepal in order to facilitate
the power trade and supply Nepal's electricity to Bangladesh.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 15 November 2019.
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