Kathmandu, October 11:

Member of European Parliament Klaus-Heiner Lehne and Member of the German Parliament Joachim Pfeiffer have pledged to take up Nepal’s concerns and interests in their respective parliaments.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” and Finance Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai in Kathmandu on Tuesday, Lehne and Pfeiffer said they would stand ready to help and lobby for Nepal in their respective parliaments.

Prime Minister “Prachanda” expressed his party’s full commitment to democracy, rule of law and human rights and recalled his recent visit to Germany.

Finance Minister Bhattarai briefed the MPs of the recently announced budget that seeks

increased assistance from the EU countries.

Political stability in Nepal would contribute to attract foreign direct investment that the country needs, the German MPs said.

The MPs also met with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal-UML Jhala Nath Khanal and former general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal.

The MPs also took part in an interaction with Nepal’s Constituent Assembly members, academics and former ministers on ‘Nepal after the elections: Issues of Constitution Building, Policies, Governance and Relations with Germany and Europe’.

Germany is proud of its federalism and there are a lot of positive features of its federal structure that could be of interest to Nepali lawmakers who are embarking on the onerous task of making a new constitution for the country, Lehne said.

Director of the Institute of South Asian Studies Nishchal N Pandey spoke of challenges

while transforming from an old state to a truly modern, democratic, inclusive and a forward looking nation of the 21st century and which has always taken pride for having never been colonised in its entire history.

“The issues of caste and language, religion, identity and ethnicity, regional autonomy versus centralised authority are new tests before us,” he said.

“This is where we need suggestions, advice, inputs or simply thought-provoking ideas from our German parliamentarians”, he said.