KATHMANDU: Nepal and Kazakhstan have formally established bilateral diplomatic relations. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations, Durga Prasad Bhattarai, and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations, Kairat Abdrakhmanov, signed a joint communiqué’ to this effect at a special ceremony held at the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan in New York on Tuesday. On the occasion, the two ambassadors expressed their confidence that the signing of the communiqué marked a milestone in deepening and widening the relations between Nepal and Kazakhstan at the bilateral level in areas of mutual interest in the days ahead. The establishment of diplomatic relations would help further strengthen cooperation between the two countries at the United Nations and various other multilateral forums at global and regional levels to promote international peace, security and development, read a statement issued Nepal's Permanent Mission to the United Nations. After the ceremony, the Nepali and Kazakh diplomats jointly informed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon about the establishment of Nepal-Kazakhstan bilateral diplomatic relations. The number of countries with which Nepal has established diplomatic relations has now reached 139.