Foreign Ministers of Nepal and Canada meet in Ottawa, discuss bilateral relations

Ottawa – Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba, held an official bilateral meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, Mélanie Joly, at latter’s office in Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa on Wednesday.

During the meeting, the two Foreign Ministers reviewed the state of friendly bilateral relations between Nepal and Canada. They exchanged views on further promoting Nepal-Canada relations in various areas of mutual interest, including trade, investment, development cooperation, and promoting people to people contacts. The two sides expressed satisfaction over the cooperative relations that Nepal and Canada are enjoying ever since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1965 and stressed on the need to maintain high level communication and exchanges and explore further areas of mutually beneficial economic partnership between the two countries, said a statement issued by Nepali embassy in Ottawa.

The two Foreign Ministers took note with happiness the milestone 60th year of diplomatic relations between Nepal and Canada next year and expressed commitment to further elevate the friendly relations by promoting cooperation in the field of education and tourism.

Foreign Minister Dr. Deuba expressed sincere thanks to the Foreign Minister of Canada for the Canadian cooperation during the difficult times of the earthquakes of 2015 and COVID-19 pandemic. The two Foreign Ministers also underlined the importance of cooperation in international forums in the agendas of shared interest, such as, promoting multilateralism, addressing climate change and implementing the sustainable development goals.

Foreign Minister Dr. Deuba appreciated the Honourable Foreign Minister of Canada for taking initiative of convening women foreign ministers’ meeting in Canada which she believed would be an important platform of deliberations on key contemporary issues impacting women and promoting their participation and empowerment in shaping of the agendas.  She alsoextended cordial invitation to the Foreign Minister Joly for an official visit to Nepal coinciding the 60th year of diplomatic relations next year.

In the meeting, Foreign Minister Dr. Deuba was accompanied by Ambassador of Nepal to Canada, Bharat Raj Paudyal and other officials from the Embassy.

 Meeting with members of Canada-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship Group  

Foreign Minister Dr Deuba also held a separate meeting with Chair and members of Canada-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship Group (CNPFG) in Ottawa on Wednesday.

 Chair of Canada-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship Group and Member of Parliament, Sonia Sidhu,  welcomed Minister Deuba at the Parliament Hill and expressed happiness over the first visit of a Nepali Foreign Minister to Canada. The two sides reviewed the friendly relations between the parliaments of Nepal and Canada and stressed on the need to promote regular exchanges, experience sharing between the Members of Parliament of the two countries.

Chair of Canada-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship Group, Ms Sonia Sidhu highlighted the potential areas of cooperation between the parliamentarians of Canada and Nepal and enrich the friendly relations. She also appreciated the progress Nepal has made in gender equality and empowerment of women and girls with greater representation of Nepali women in the parliament and local government as well as enhanced contribution of them in public life.

Constitution Day and Nepal Day observed

Foreign Minister Dr Arzu Rana Deuba also attended a reception organized in her honour by the Nepali embassy in Ottawa to mark the Constitution Day and National Day of Nepal on Wednesday.

Chief Guest of the event, Parliamentary Secretary of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, Robert Oliphant, conveyed the best wishes to the Government and people of Nepal on the National Day saying that the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the two countries will continue to flourish in the coming days. He complimented Nepal for the progress made in democratic transition, peace, and women’s empowerment and expressed his confidence that the two countries would continue to work together for enhancing cooperation in mutually beneficial areas of trade, tourism, and investment.

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal, Dr Deuba, called the promulgation of the Constitution of Nepal in 2015 a pivotal moment in Nepal’s history that represented the culmination of decades of struggle and sacrifice of the Nepali people to write a democratic constitution by an inclusive and representative constituent assembly. She said that the Constitution embodies the collective aspiration of multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and multi-cultural nation to build a just, inclusive and democratic society. She stated that the empowering effect of the Constitution can now be seen in greater participation and representation of women and other section of Nepali society in the public life. She highlighted the 33 percent of the seats in the federal parliament and provincial assemblies and almost 41 percent of the seats in the local level are represented by women.

Minister Deuba also highlighted the background of Canada Nepal cooperation and invited to utilize the foundation already built for greater engagements to promote investment in Nepali hydro-energy sector between the two governments and business sector.

Member of Parliament of Canada and Chair of Canada-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship Group the Honourable Ms. Sonia Sidhu extended best wishes to Nepal and Nepali people on the occasion of the National Day.

The program began with playing of the national anthems of Nepal and Canada. Welcoming the distinguished guests, Ambassador Paudyal highlighted the cordial and friendly state of Nepal-Canada bilateral relations and expressed hope that it will continue to grow and prosper in the future as the two countries prepare to celebrate the 60th year of diplomatic relations next year.

Also present on the occasion were the Senators, Members of Parliament, Ambassadors and High Commissioners, senior officials of the Government of Canada, representatives from the Provincial Governments, university professors, businessmen, representatives from business and financial institutions, media, and members of Nepali diaspora community in Canada.

Nepal’s cultural and tourism promotional videos, and other promotional items were also displayed at the venue.