Kathmandu, Dec. 29
The first year of the current government witnessed multiple
upheavals in foreign affairs and diplomacy including rescuing Nepalis from
Israel and Ukraine, repatriation of the mortal remains of Nepali nationals
killed in the HAMAS attack in Israel, and various high-level bilateral and
multilateral visits and engagements.
Likewise, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) implemented
programmes for economic diplomacy, and services to Nepali citizens in foreign
countries, implemented multilateral diplomacy, organised and attended meetings
of bilateral mechanisms formed with the friendly nations.
Briefing the Central Committee meeting of the Nepali
Congress on Friday, Minister for Foreign Affairs, NP Saud, said that Nepal
successfully brought back Nepali citizens who were at risk due to the war
between Israel and Palestinian rebel group HAMAS, repatriated the bodies of 10
Nepalis killed in the attack while a search is going on to find the missing
Nepali student, Bipin Joshi.
Likewise, 31 Nepalis stranded in Sudan due to political
crisis there were also rescued with the efforts of the MoFA, and the missions
in Cairo, Riyad and Jeddah. India, China and Saudi Arabia also extended their
support to Nepal in the rescue operations.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry introduced the
pre-enrollment form for passports allowing the service seekers to fix their
appointment a month before. It also increased the quota for the forms for passports
to district and area administration offices. "We have a stock of passports
that will meet the demands for the next two years while the tender process has
been initiated to procure additional passports," said FM Saud.
Likewise, the Department of Consular Services has started to
approve the character certificate online which has contributed to the decreased
time and money of the people and crowd at the office.
Nepal organised a high-level investment summit in London on
the occasion of the centenary of the Friendship Treaty 2023 signed between
Nepal and the United Kingdom. The summit was successful in drawing the
investors' attention to renewable energy, information technology and education.
The MoFA also organised various programmes related to
economic diplomacy in and out of the country and mobilised Nepali missions
abroad to promote Nepal's trade, tourism and investment. The Rasuwagadhi-Kerung
border between Nepal and China was opened within a couple of days of FM Saud's
appointment to the post. Likewise, the Hilsa-Purang border is also opened for
one-way trade.
The opening of these border points will promote the
bilateral trade between Nepal and China, said FM Saud.
PM Prachanda's visits
In the past one year, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal
'Prachanda' completed the official visits of neighbouring countries India and
China. During his visit to India at the invitation of his Indian counterpart,
Narendra Modi, various seven agreements were signed and five projects were
inaugurated or initiated.
Likewise, during his visit
to China, PM Prachanda participated in the inauguration ceremony of the 19th
Asian Games and signed various memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and
agreements during the meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
The MoUs were signed for the Hilsa-Simkot Road Project,
Nepal China Power Grid Interconnection, cooperation in education, science and
technology, and agriculture, development cooperation between the two countries,
green development, and cooperation in the digital economy, disaster management
and training.
Foreign Minister's visits
Similarly, FM Saud visited the United States of America at
the invitation of the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. During the visit,
FM Saud also held meetings with the CEO of US International Development Finance
Corporation, Scott Nathan, Administrator of the USAID, Samantha Power, CEO of
the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Alice Albright, and other high-ranking officials,
and discussed strengthening the bilateral relations between the two countries
and future cooperation.
FM Saud also participated in the coronation ceremony of the
King Charles III of the UK, and attended the 6th Indian Ocean
Conference.
Likewise, Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio
Guterres, visited Nepal in October-November this year and held meetings with
President Ramchandra Paudel, PM Prachanda, FM Saud and discussed Nepal's peace
process, climate change and poverty alleviation as well as appreciated Nepal's
contribution to the peacekeeping missions.
Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra visited Nepal
earlier this year to discuss about enhancing interconnectivity, energy trade,
and cooperation in agriculture, health and other areas between the two
countries.
Similarly, UK Minister for Defence People, Veterans and
Service Families, Dr. Andrew Morrison, UK Minister of State in the Foreign Commonwealth
and Development Office, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, US Under Secretary of State for
Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland, European Commissioner for International
Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, USAID's Administrator, Samantha Power, and
China, Xizang Autonomous Region's Party Secretary, Wang Junzheng visited Nepal
in the past one year.
Meetings of bilateral mechanisms with China, France, the
United Kingdom, the European Union, Belgium, South Korea and Japan were held
during the past year. The meetings discussed the high-level visits, economic
cooperation, trade, investment and tourism promotion, development cooperation, and
cooperation in agriculture, climate change mitigation, human rights, education
and culture as well as people-to-people relations.
Meanwhile, Nepal participated in the meetings of BIMSTEC and
Asia Cooperation Dialogue. The country also raised its voice on the impact of
climate change at the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) of the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Dubai in
November.
Meanwhile, Nepal has got the leadership of the Global
Coordination Bureau of the group of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs),
elected member of the Economic and Social Council of the UN, and a member of
the Peacebuilding Commission of the UN.
No comments:
Post a Comment