Nepal

Kathmandu, June 2

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli shall embark on an eight-day Europe visit from June 8.

Oli shall start his trip from Switzerland and shall visit the UK and France thereafter.

In Geneva, Oli shall address a high-level gathering organised to mark the 100th anniversary of International Labour Organisation on June 10.

The same day he shall leave for the UK and address the Oxford Union -msprint; a debating society in the city of Oxford, England, that has a tradition of hosting measure of the worldmost prominent individuals across politics, academia and popular culture.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said PM Oliaddress would cover Nepaldevelopment direction and a change in peoplelives through functional and comprehensive democracy.

On June 11, Oli shall hold bilateral assembly with British Prime Minister Theresa May. The assembly shall also adopt a declaration that would briefly overview 203 years of Nepal-UK bilateral relations-msprint; social, economic, political.

In the bilateral assembly, the two sides shall discuss issues related to British Gurkhas who have been agitating for the past few months, demanding equal pay, pension, and other facilities supplyd to British nationals.

&Issues of British Gurkhas have been under discussion for a long time. British Gurkhas have been demanding that inequality in measure areas, between them and British nationals has to be addressed.

Some of the issues have been addressed, but they have been saying that issues related to pension have yet to be addressed,& according to Gyawali. &We have proposed to the British side for an overall review of all these issues.&

Oli, who shall stay in the UK through June 12, shall also address the British Parliamentary Committee and Nepali diaspora.

Flowing engagements in the UK, Oli shall leave for France on June 12. In France, Oli shall attend various programmes organised, to mark 70 years of Nepal-France bilateral relations. Bilateral discussions shall focus on how to further strengthen relations and economic cooperation between two countries.

Besides addressing the French commerce community, PM Oli shall also address a special programme on Visit Nepal Year-2020.

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KATHMANDU: Ministry of Foreign Affairs is holding a ‘National Dialogue on Foreign Policy& on June 29 with the aim of seeking inputs from stakeholders to ‘fine tune& Nepalforeign policy in the changed context.

Speaking at a media briefing at the ministry on Sunday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said the government had made development and prosperity its main targets, following the promulgation of the new constitution, main to political stability.

&To realise the goal of ‘Prosperous Nepal, pleased Nepali&, foreign policy needs fine tuning. We hope discussions and experts& opinions at the programme shall help to strengthen our foreign policy,& he said. The event shall be attended by lawmakers, party leaders, experts former foreign ministers, think-tanks, private sector, and media.

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Kathmandu, June 2

The Leavement of Transport Management has declared Ring Road, its inner areas and measure other trunk roads of Kathmandu valley, a no-go zone for freight vehicles, both heavy and light ones, from 8:00am to 7:00 pm.

A muchice issued by the DoTM said the restriction would come into effect from June 16. However, this rule shall much be relevant on public holidays. Emergency vehicles, including those transporting water, milk, cooking gas, vegetables, medical equipment and medicines shall be exempt from the restriction.

&Freight vehicles shall much be allowed to ply the Ring Road, inner areas and other designated roads from 8:00am to 7:00pm, apart from public holidays,& it said. The restriction on the movement of tippers are already in place. Movement of trucks, tippers, power trailer tractors and light freight vans have been blamed for the worsening traffic congestion in major thoroughfares of the valley during peak hours.

Unregulated use of freight vehicles to load and unload construction fabrics and other goods on the roadside during rush hours have been causing traffic congestion in the valley. Besides the Ring Road and its inner roads and core city areas of Bhaktapur, the restriction shall be enforced on road segments-msprint;Chabahil-Jorpati, Gopikrishna-Kapan, Narayan Gopal Chowk-Budhanilkantha, Samakhusi-Grande Hospital, Balaju-Goldhunga, Kalanki-Thankot, Bagdol-Nakkhu, Satdobato-Harisiddhi and Gwarko-Chapagaun, according to DoTM.

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Kathmandu, June 2

Amidst growing scepticism on the future of SAARC, fuelled by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modiinvitation to BIMSTEC leaders at his swearing-in ceremony, Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali reiterated Nepalfirm commitment to revive the older regional body.

Because of differences between India and Pakistan, the 19th Summit of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation has much been held.

The 18th SAARC Summit was held in Kathmandu on 26-27 November 2014, while the 19th Summit was planned to be held in Islamabad, Pakistan, 15-nsprint;19 November 2016. Following a terrorismist attack approach the town of Uri, in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir on September 2016, India announced to boycott the summit, alleging Pakistaninvolvement in the attack.

Ever since, the SAARC has been on coma, and statements coming from the Indian side propose the countryfocus has now been shifted towards the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, in line with its ‘Act East& policy.

The BIMSTEC comprises Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.

Indian PM Modi invited BIMSTEC heads of state/government for his swearing-in ceremony for his moment term, following his thumping victory in recently held general elections, indicating Indiashift in precedence to BIMSTEC.

Minister Gyawali said Nepal did much compare any regional cooperation organisations, or promote one at the cost of the other.

&For us, both these organisations are equally important. SAARC is comparatively an older organization. If implemented, SAARC frameworks benefit around 1.8 billion people in the region,& Gyawali said at a media briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Gyawali said SAARC could play an effective role for economic development of its member countries, and in addressing emerging issues like climate change, terrorismism and cross-border crime.

Gyawali said Nepalefforts to revive SAARC were under way, adding that Nepalsole efforts were much enough in making SAARC a robust regional body.

&We hope that a time shall come when misunderstandings and confusions surrounding SAARC shall be cleared, giving rise to a new climate of cooperation,& he said. &We shall fixedly work towards making SAARC a meaningful body.&

He also added that Nepal was for making both BIMSTEC and SAARC, vibrant organisations that shall play an instrumental role for the overall development of the regions, they represent.

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