BAKU: The18th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on the theme “Upholding the Bandung Principles to ensure concerted and adequate response to the challenges of the contemporary world” has begun at Baku Congress Centre(BCC), on Friday, in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan.

PM Oli, who is representing the Asia and Pacific region as the Vice-chair along with other 21 member Nepali delegation. heads of state and other government representatives from African region, Asia-Pacific region, Latin America and the Caribbean Region, and European Region will speak and debate on various

Final Document will outline issues discussed and agreed upon during the Summit along with other reports of Ministerial Meeting held prior to the Summit and review the progress achieved post 17th Summit.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Heads of State or Governments of different countries at the BCC premises later this afternoon. He is scheduled to meet with the Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and will also hold bilateral talks with host President and NAM Chair Ailyev, according to Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi.

The Nepali delegation includes Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister BishnuRimal, Foreign Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister DrRajanBhattarai, Foreign Secretary Bairagi, Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations AmritRai and senior officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as state media representatives.

The closing ceremony of the 18th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of NAM will be held at the Plenary Hall of the BCC with the Closing Remarks by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Chair of NAM Ilham Aliyev.

The Prime Minister and his 21 member delegation will arrive in Kathmandu on Sunday morning.