KATHMANDU: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sujata Koirala today reiterated that the formation of the high level political mechanism was very crucial for ending the current impasse.

Talking to media persons at Tribhuvan International Airport upon her arrival from Myanmar, where she had participated in a three-day 12th ministerial meeting of Bengal Initiative for Multi- Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), she urged the main opposition UCPN-Maoist to withdraw its protest programme. She also appealed the Maoists to opt for the politics of consensus and agreement.

According to the DPM Koirala, the BIMSTEC has identified 14 priority areas for cooperation and agreed to hold a ministerial level meeting in the beginning of the next year on the poverty alleviation issue.

“The participating countries signed the BIMSTEC Convention on cooperation in combating international terrorism, transnational organised crime and illicit drug trafficking,” she said.