Kathmandu, September 21 Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Krishna Bahadur Mahara, who is in New York to attend the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, today participated in a high-level meeting of the Group of Friends of Mediation. The Group of Friends of Mediation was formed in 2010 to promote and advance the use of mediation in peaceful settlement of disputes, conflict prevention and resolution, as well as to generate support for development of mediation. The group, which currently consists of 48 member states, eight regional organisations and other international organisations, meets annually on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Later in the day, DPM Mahara, who is also the current chair of South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation, will chair an informal session of SAARC Council of Ministers. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who arrived in New York yesterday to lead the Nepali delegation to the UNGA, will today hold bilateral meetings with Afghanistan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. Later in the day, PM Deuba will address the Columbia University’s World Leaders Forum. PM Deuba is scheduled to address the UNGA on Saturday. Yesterday, DPM Mahara attended the Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting. Highlighting Nepal’s position of non-alignment, DPM called for the use of peaceful means for resolving all differences. DPM Mahara also attended the 16th Annual ministerial meeting of the Landlocked Least Developing Countries. While addressing the meeting, DPM Mahara said international support measures, not only Official Development Assistance but also partnerships, technology transfers and investments need to be increased to ensure meaningful participation of LLDCs in global value chains and trade. DPM Mahara also participated at the High-level Open Debate on Reform of UN Peacekeeping organised by the UN Security Council. Addressing the Security Council, he reiterated Nepal’s commitment to support reforms in peace operations, while calling for implementation of high-level reports without violating their integrity and ensuring the safety and security of the peacekeepers to enable them to effectively carry out the mandate to protect civilians. Nepal is the sixth largest troops and police contributing country. At a high-level event on “SDG Implementation, Financing and Monitoring; Sharing Innovations through South-South and Triangular Cooperation” organised by Bangladesh, DPM Mahara said enhanced South-South cooperation, especially sharing of innovation, can play a crucial role to implement the transformative 2030 Agenda. During the event, he also launched a publication titled ‘South-South in Action’ together with the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, the President of Estonia, the Prime Minister of Curacao, the Netherlands, and the Director of UN Office for South-South Cooperation.