Foreign Secretary to lead Nepal in bilateral mechanism with the UK

 Kathmandu, Apr. 23

Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal is leading a Nepali delegation, which includes senior officials of the government.

The 6^th meeting of Nepal-United Kingdom Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) will be held in London on April 26, informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in a statement on Sunday.

According to the ministry, the meeting will take stock of the diverse areas of Nepal-UK engagements including development partnership and climate cooperation, trade and investment, education, tourism and other aspects of people-to-people connection, and British Gurkha, among other issues.

This year marks the centenary of the Friendship Treaty between Nepal and the United Kingdom. The Foreign Secretary will also be engaged in other official meetings and programmes.

The two counties had established formal relations in 1816. With the signing of the Treaty of Friendship between Nepal and the UK, the status of British Representative in Kathmandu was upgraded to the level of an envoy.

 In 1934, Nepal established a legation in London. Likewise, the Gurkha's service in the British Army officially started on April 24, 1815.

Recently, former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had visited the UK in June 2019 and hold bilateral talks with his British counterpart Theresa May.

 Likewise, International Development Minister and Parliament Undersecretary at the Department of International Development (DFID) Baroness Sugg visited Nepal in May 2019.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 24 April 2023.