Kathmandu, August 25 :

The Ministry of Tourism, Culture Civil Aviation and the Sri Lankan delegation today agreed to continue their talks concerning the renewal of the Air Service Agreement (ASA) between the two countries in Sri Lanka.

However, Sri Lanka is planning to begin its air operations to Nepal by the end of the year once the ASA is formally renewed.

“We agreed to finalise the renewal of the Air Service Agreement in the next meeting in Colombo sensing the need to analyse marketing and technical aspects of issues concerning

air traffic rights,” said Yagya Prasad Gautam, joint-secretary at the Ministry.

However, both the parties agreed in “principle” to include Delhi as the intermediate point for air operations on the Colombo-Kathmandu or Kathmandu-Colombo sectors, he said.

Nepali and Sri Lankan delegation teams signed the “record of discussions” at the concluding session of the talks today.

The Sri Lankan delegation invited Nepal to Colombo for further talks but the date is yet to be finalised, said Gautam. Both the Nepali and Sri Lankan teams agreed to exchange ideas and suggestions on the draft proposals of Air Service Agreement through diplomatic channels prior to the next round of talks.

The ASA talks were held in Kathmandu following Sri Lankan interest in operating on the Colombo-Delhi-Kathmandu sector.