Kathmandu, June 1: Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, United Kingdom, Hugo Swire, is arriving here on Monday on a three-day official visit to Nepal.
State Minister Swire is arriving here with the objective of strengthening the mutual relation and identifying more areas of cooperation on reaching 200 years of the establishment of Nepal-UK diplomatic ties.
The State Minister would hold meetings with high officials of the government on different issues including the recent political situation in Nepal, joint government formed after the Constituent Assembly election and socio-economic development projects forwarded by the government, among others.
State Minister Swire is scheduled to meet President Dr Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, separately, according to the Foreign Ministry.
The State Minister will give a lecture on ‘Nepal-UK relations’ at a programme to be organised at Tri Chandra Campus and will go to Pokhara and acquire information about Gurkha Welfare Scheme.
The diplomatic ties between the two countries were established in 1816. The government of UK has been providing continuous support in development endeavors of Neal.
The British cooperation in the recent years has been focused on community and rural support, planning and monitoring capacity, financial and public management, good governance, elections and human rights, energy and climate change and peace building in Nepal.
Similarly, it has been providing support to improve efforts to reduce political instability, boost economic growth an economic inclusion, provide basic services and increase resilience to natural disasters through the Department for International Development (DFID).
Nepal has been exporting pashmina shawls, goatskin, leather goods, Nepalese paper, woolen carpets and handicrafts, among others to UK.
The government of UK has been providing Rs 100.6 million pound sterling annually to Nepal for its development endeavors.
