'Nepal extends friendly relations with all South Asian nations'

Kathmandu, Aug. 1: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara Tuesday said that Nepal had warm and friendly relations with all South Asian nations.

In an interaction with the delegation from the National Defence School of Bangladesh at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he said that Nepal would always promote cordial relations with all friendly nations.

According to him, Nepal is an active member of the United Nations (UN) and Non-Aligned Movement (NAN) and has always followed and guided by the principles of the UN Charter and international law.

“The main objective of the South Asian nations is to gain rapid economic growth and social development. There has been multilateral cooperation regarding the prosperity agenda. We can expedite the development process through the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) framework,” he said.

He also said that the sub-regional cooperation was also given importance through the BBIN (Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal) initiative.

He urged Bangladesh to have common viewpoint in international forums and said, “We can forge collaboration in economic, social and cultural sectors. Both the countries have same challenges of democratic values and development.”

Foreign secretary Shankar Das Bairagi said that Nepal has favourable environment for the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and urged the Bangladeshi investors to invest here.

“The government has long been trying to create an atmosphere conducive to investment through legal and procedural reforms. The areas like hydroelectricity, agriculture and information technology have high potential in Nepal,” he said.