Nepal's presence in UN and other international forums spectacular: Foreign Minister

Kathmandu, Oct 4: Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Arzu Rana Deuba claimed that Nepal's presence in the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and several other international forums hed in the sidelines of the global jamboree was spectacular.     

Talking to journalists in brief at the Tribhuvan International Airport soon after returning home today, she shared that issues of Nepal's national interest and concerns were raised prominently by actively participating in the UNGA and various high-level meetings.     

Minister Rana returned home today after attending the meeting of women foreign ministers of the world held in Toronto, Canada, UNGA in New York, USA and the third conference of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) held in Doha, Qatar.     

Minister Rana briefed that Nepal was present in these multilateral and regional meetings in a clearly heard and visible manner. She noted, "Here we say this and that did not happen in Nepal, in fact, this is not the case. Looking at the facts and statistics, the situation in Nepal is not fragile. We have made up to 47 per cent progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But some countries still have only 17 percent progress. We have to take our situation positively and move forward".     

Responding to a query, she said the Nepal government was aware of the situation of Nepalis living in Lebanon due to the recently developed situation.     

She attended the Women's Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Toronto, Canada, on September 19-20. On the sidelines of the meeting, she held bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of various countries. She then attended the General Assembly and the Summit of the Future held at the UN headquarters. After the programme, she led the Nepali delegation to the third Summit of Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ASD) held in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday and Thursday.     

During these important meetings, she shared that she had expanded the scope of Nepal's diplomatic relations, presented Nepal's concerns and interests to the international community, shared Nepal's problems due to climate change to the world community and appealed to the globe for necessary assistance to Nepal.     

The government is aware of the condition of Nepalis living in Lebanon and so far all Nepali nationals are safe, Rana said, informing that a help desk has been set up through the Embassy for those willing to return home.     

She also briefed the forums about the progress made in the field of peace process, women empowerment and reproductive rights in Nepal. Addressing a meeting of G-20 Foreign Ministers on behalf of the Least Developed Countries this time, she urged these countries to further enhance the current assistance and raised the issue of increasing the representation of the LDCs in major international organizations.     

In her address to a ministerial meeting of landlocked developing countries, she stressed the need for foreign assistance, foreign investment, cooperation related to promotion of foreign trade and international partnership in infrastructure development to meet the development challenges of these countries.     

Similarly, addressing a ministerial meeting of the Peace Building Commission, she said Nepal had recently passed a revised bill on transitional justice and Nepal was always committed to sustainable peace.     

During the General Assembly, she participated in various forums and represented women representatives.     

On the sidelines of the General Assembly, she held bilateral meetings with the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia and Serbia and also signed an agreement between Nepal and these countries regarding visa exemption to diplomatic and special (official) passport holders.     

In the meantime, she also signed an agreement on the establishment of a bilateral consultation mechanism between Nepal and the US.     

On the sidelines of the UN, she also held meetings with UN deputy secretaries, ministers and foreign ministers of various countries.     

On the sidelines of the summit, Minister Rana held bilateral meetings with deputy prime ministers, foreign ministers and ministers of different countries on Thursday. Presidents, Prime Ministers, Deputy Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers and Ministers of Asian countries were present at the conference.(RSS)