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Foreign Secretary of Nepal Bharat Raj Paudyal held a meeting with Jan Adams, Secretary of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia, in Canberra on Tuesday. During the meeting, they discussed various matters of bilateral relations and agreed to further expand and strengthen cooperation in different areas of mutual interests, read a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On the occasion, the memorandum of understanding was signed between the government of Nepal and the government of Australia on Cooperation on the Fields of Water Resources Management. Dinesh Kumar Ghimire, Secretary at the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat of Nepal and Jan Adams, Secretary of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia, signed the MoU on behalf of their respective governments, the statement read. A Nepali delegation led by Foreign Secretary Paudyal arrived in Canberra on August 28 to hold the second meeting of the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia which was scheduled to be held on August 30. Other delegation members from Nepal include Dinesh Kumar Ghimire, Secretary, Water and Energy Commission, Kailash Raj Pokharel, Ambassador of Nepal to Australia, Lok Bahadur Thapa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sita Basnet, Under Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Kul Bahadur Magar, Deputy Head of Mission of Embassy of Nepal.  

The second meeting of the Bilateral Consultations Mechanism (BCM) between Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) of Australia was held in Canberra on Tuesday. Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal and Justin Hayhurst, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia, led their respective delegations to the BCM meeting. The two sides reviewed the bilateral relations between Nepal and Australia and exchanged views on further strengthening the bilateral relations and cooperation in different fields including education, energy, investment, trade, tourism, technology transfer, migration, cooperation in climate action, and disaster risk reduction, among others, read a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Both sides agreed to prioritize the exchange of high-level visits, promote people to people contacts, and facilitate trade, investment and transfer of technology. They also discussed cooperation in multilateral forums, including the exchange of experiences in UN Peace keeping operations. While appreciating Australian cooperation to Nepal, Foreign Secretary Paudyal requested the Australian side to place Nepal as a priority country for Australian aid, support for post-COVID economic recovery, graduation from the LDC status, and realize the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, and consider issuing visa services from the Australian Embassy in Kathmandu, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Earlier, Nepal and Australia signed MOU on Cooperation on Water Resource Management yesterday under which Australia will provide support on capacity development and training technical assistance in water resource management among others. The Nepali delegation led by the Foreign Secretary comprised Dinesh Kumar Ghimire, Secretary, Water and Energy Commission, Kailash Raj Pokharel, Ambassador of Nepal to Australia, Lok Bahadur Thapa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sita Basnet, Under Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Kul Bahadur Magar, Deputy Head of Mission of Embassy of Nepal. Bilateral Consultation Mechanism between Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nepal and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia was established on 14 July 2017 and its first meeting was held in Kathmandu on 16 August 2018.

Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota has said Haritalika Teej is the festival to raise voices in a collective manner. It helps to foster family unity and social harmony, and erase discrimination, he added. Giving a message of best wishes on the occasion of the Teej festival today, Speaker Sapkota hoped that the Teej would help create the atmosphere conducive for women's freedom, security and dignified life. Speaker Sapkota also reminded the women to be aware of scientific value in lifestyle while celebrating the festival.

CPN-UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel has said that his party was for continuing the development works and keeping up with people's aspiration. For this to happen, the party proposed Chairperson KP Sharma Oli as the next prime minister, he informed. During a press conference organized in the Capital on Monday, General Secretary Pokharel argued that once Chairperson Oli becomes Prime Minister, people's aspiration for development and prosperity would be fulfilled. According to Pokharel, the UML was planning to launch a campaign that every member of the party would engage in election preparation in a way it would increase votes to the party in coming provincial and federal elections.