KATHMANDU: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has left for Baku, the Republic of Azerbaijan, leading the Nepali delegation to the 18th Summit of heads of state and government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

The Nepali delegation includes Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister Bishnu Rimal, Foreign Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister Rajan Bhattarai, Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi, and senior officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

The Summit will be held on October 25 and 26 and the PM will address the general debate of the Summit on October 26, as per the press statement released by MOFA on October 20.

This year, the general debate of the Summit will be held on the theme “Upholding the Bandung Principles to ensure concerted and adequate response to the challenges of the contemporary world”.

It has been reported that PM Oli will attend the official dinner to be hosted by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, in honour of the heads of delegation on October 25, 2019.

Prime Minister Oli will also hold bilateral meetings with the heads of delegations of different countries on the sidelines of the Summit.

Nepal is a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement and has been actively participating in all NAM Summits since its inception. The principles of non-alignment constitute one of the basic tenets of Nepal’s foreign policy.

As per the statement, PM Oli is scheduled to return from Baku on the evening of October 26 and will arrive at the capital in the morning of October 27.