With an objective of fostering better international understanding, the Nepal Council of World Affairs (NCWA) organised a talk programme on ‘Opportunities and challenges of Nepal-Russia relations in the context of contemporary world situation’.

Valery V Nazarov, ambassador of the Russian Federation to Nepal, had been invited to talk on the topic and examine Nepal-Russia relations in the context of contemporary world situation.

“The talk programme has become all the more important in view of recent visit of our acting foreign secretary, Madhu Raman Acharya, to Moscow to discuss matters of mutual interest between two countries,” said Himalaya Kumar Singh, secretary general of NCWA. “With his experiences of working as a diplomat, no one else would be able to speak with greater authority on the subject than ambassador Nazarov.”

After graduating from Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1965, Nazarov entered diplomatic services in 1966. Prior to his present assignment in Nepal, he served as an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation of Myanmar.

He also briefly served as deputy director of Third Asian Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. He holds the rank of minister extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the first class.

“The epoch of globalisation has brought with it new opportunities that have opened broad horizons for the world community in the economy, science and the social sphere,” said ambassador Valery Nazarov. “But the growing gap between rich and poor has appeared new threats and challenges to international stability and security.”

He stressed on the urgent need of a comprehensive joint analysis of the problems of international security, of ways to ensure it most effectively both for individual states and for the entire world community.

He informed that as a part of the Asian space, Russia is pursuing a policy for the onward development of many-sided relations with the countries of Asia-Pacific region, with international and organisations operating there.

Based on the progress achieved, Russians will continue their efforts for the development of mutually beneficial partner relations with China and India and the consistent advancement of dialogue with Japan. “We are open for cooperation with other countries of Asia including Nepal,” said the Russian ambassador.

Speaking on the Nepal-Russia ties, he said that the possibilities of signing a government-to-government agreement should be explored to avoid double taxation and create a favourable environment for stirring up the Russia-Nepal business cooperation.

“If the Nepali side is interested, the Russian state organisations as well as private companies could consider the concrete steps on reconstruction and modernisation of a number of projects built in Nepal in cooperation with former USSR,” he further said. NCWA, since its interception in 1948, has been working as an intellectual forum for exchanging knowledge on international events and trends.