Kathmandu, September 26

While many leaders continued their address on the second day of the General Debate at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Nepali delegation to the 74th UNGA session took part in a series of high-level meetings on the sidelines yesterday.

As part of widening diplomatic relations further, Nepal and Ghana established formal diplomatic relations. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nepal Pradeep Kumar Gyawali and Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, foreign minister of Ghana signed a joint communiqué to this effect.

With this development, the number of countries Nepal has established diplomatic relations has now reached 168.

The two ministers also held a bilateral meeting prior to the signing of the communiqué. They also shared the confidence that diplomatic ties would help bring the two countries and peoples closer on the bilateral front, while continuing their collaboration at multilateral forums.

Similarly, Foreign Minister Gyawali addressed the annual Ministerial Meeting of Landlocked Developing Countries, where he stated that the infrastructure gap in LLDCs compared to other countries was the highest. In this regard, he highlighted the need to build connectivity, including through durable and effective partnership between and among LLDCs and their transit and development partners. The meeting was attended by foreign ministers and other high-level representatives of LLDCs and transit as well as development partners and UN system entities, said a press release issued by the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations, in New York.

Minister Gyawali also held separate bilateral meetings with his counterparts of Bahrain, Norway, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. In his meeting with Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, minister of foreign affairs of Bahrain, the two sides discussed various matters of common concerns, from labour relations to promotion of trade, tourism and investment. The two ministers agreed to expedite pending agreements and further work closely for more cooperation and collaboration, including through exchanging high-level visits.

The need to further strengthen bilateral relations through more cooperation and collaboration emerged as a prominent agenda in the talks between the minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf. The two ministers also agreed to expedite finalisation of agreements that are currently in the pipeline.

The meeting with the Norwegian Minister of International Development Dag Inge Ulstein focused on areas of cooperation, including investment as well as collaboration at multilateral forums such as the United Nations. They also shared their views on various international issues, particularly climate change.