Nepal, India in communication to resolve Kalapani issue

Kathmandu, Feb. 16

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said Sunday that the governments of Nepal and India were trying to find suitable date to hold discussion to solve the Kalapani issue.

“Nepal is in communication with the Indian government for a dialogue and settlement of the border issue of Kalapani through diplomatic means,” he said while addressing the 72^nd Anniversary Programme of Nepal Council of World Affairs (NCWA) in the capital.

According to him, the governments of both the countries were anticipating mutually convenient dates for the meeting.

Minister Gyawali said that the leaders on both sides had displayed clear vision, commitment and required political will to take the relationship to a higher plane of trust, cooperation and friendship.

He also expressed the government’s intention to work closely with the labour destination countries.

“Labour migration has become an important aspect of Nepal’s foreign relations and a large number of Nepali nationals are engaged in foreign employment and remittances they send home make a sizable share of our economy,” he said. “Therefore, it becomes government’s priority to work closely with the countries of destination for safety, security and wellbeing of our migrant workers,” he added.

In recent years, Nepal’s engagements with the labour destination countries have been more intensive and enriched by exchange of high level visits, and growing trade and investment.

We look forward to expanding and diversify the scope of cooperation with these countries so as to encompass the broader areas of economic partnership involving trade, investment, tourism and civil aviation, among others, Gyawali stated.

According to him, Nepal maintains friendly and cooperative relations with both of the immediate neighbours, India and China.

“Maintaining close and cordial relationship with them is our priority. Our relations have expanded manifold in the sphere of political, economic, cultural, trade, tourism, investment, and people-to-people exchanges,” he said while maintaining that Nepal’s neighbourhood provided opportunities for expanding economic linkages.

Minister Gyawali also said that as the Chair of SAARC, Nepal had done its best for the revival of the stalled SAARC process.

“We have been actively working at BIMSTEC to promote economic cooperation, connectivity and prosperity. Nepal plays its due role in Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) as its member and in Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as a dialogue partner,” he said.

He stated that Nepal accorded high priority to the issue of climate change and supported effective implementation of the Paris Agreement and calls for enhanced level of climate finance and technology transfer for the adaptation and mitigation.

President of NCWA Hemanta Kharel said that Nepal has to work proactively while exercising its foreign policy as the powerful nations were undermining the rule-based international order.

“We need to create and change the foreign policy on the basis of research. Building trust and confidence with the friendly nation should be the first priority,” he said.

NCWA had felicitated former vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission and former Nepali Ambassador to the USA Dr. Shankar Sharma. Vice-President Nanda Bahadur Pun honoured Dr. Sharma with a shawl and plaque.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 17 February 2020.