Kathmandu, February 7

The third meeting of Nepal-Japan Bilateral Consultation Mechanism was held here today.

Joint Secretary and Head of North East Asia Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kali Prasad Pokhrel and Director General of Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan Hiroshi Ishikawa led their respective delegations at the meeting.

During the meet, the two sides took stock of all aspects of bilateral relation and exchanged views on further promoting cooperation between the two countries. While expressing satisfaction over existing bilateral relation, both sides laid emphasis on the importance of exchanging high-level visits in order to further fortify bilateral ties.

The two sides discussed various ways of enhancing cooperation in the areas of trade, tourism, investment, agriculture, infrastructure, hydropower, education, human resource, as well as culture and people-to-people contact. Regional and international issues of mutual interest were also discussed during the meeting.

Japanese delegation consisted of Masamichi Saigo, Ambassador of Japan to Nepal; Chisako Nishitani, Deputy Director at Southwest Asia Division of the Foreign Ministry; Kento Morozumi, official of the Southwest Asia Division of the Foreign Ministry.

Nepali delegation included Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary, Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation; Arjun Jang Thapa, joint secretary, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport; Radhika Aryal, joint secretary, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology; and senior officials of the Government of Nepal.

Following the meet, director general Ishikawa called on Minister of Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Foreign Affairs Advisor to prime minister Rajan Bhattarai and Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi at their respective offices.