17 March, Kathmandu:
British Prince Harry is embarking on his official Nepal visit from coming Saturday.
Prince Harry is making this visit as a representative of British Queen to mark the bicentenary of the diplomatic relations between Nepal and the UK in a special manner.
The government has completed all necessary preparations to make the first Nepal visit of the British Prince – who is the vocal admirer of the bravery of Gurkhas as part of British National Army – grandeur.
The imminent five-day Nepal visit of Prince Harry is also an acknowledgement of the contributions of brave and dedicated Gurkha Rifles for the defense of British Crown.
Nepal and Britain shared cordial relations not only at government level but also at people to people level. Britain has been in the forefront of extending support to Nepal in its bid for democratic consolidation, political stability and development interventions. Through its international development agency, DFID, the UK has been aiding Nepal in various areas including poverty alleviation, service delivery, promotion of good governance, disaster management, climate change, basic heatlh, education and governance reforms.
Its support is also visible in drinking water and sanitation, agriculture, rural infrastructure development, transport, communication, administration and forestry sectors in Nepal. The UK has been providing support to Nepal’s social and economic development aligning the latter’s five-year development strategy.
As part of its continuous support, the UK has pledged to provide Nepal with 100 million Pound Sterling every year till 2021 AD. Likewise, it has stood as a good friend of Nepal in need while pledging the humanitarian support of 110 million US Dollar in the International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction held in Kathmandu last year for building post-earthquake resilience.
In addition, it has been channelizing its support for the development of physical infrastructure, opening touristic trekking route and improving air safety in a bid to promote tourism – which has been the backbone of Nepal’s economy.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa comments the visit from a representative of British Monarchy as a high-profile event and that they are eagerly waiting to welcome Prince Harry to Nepal.
“We take this visit with high importance and full preparation has been made to make this entourage ever-remembering”, he further said.
Former Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Bhesh Bahadur Thapa notes that all side should consider the Nepal visit of Brtish Prince Harry in a positive manner. “The visit reflects the good will of the UK to Nepal. It would further contribute to consolidate the bilateral relations between Nepal and UK”, he adds.
Likewise, Nepal’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi says the upcoming visit of British Prince Harry would bring Nepal-UK relations to a new height and contribute to explore new avenues for mutial cooperation. Matters related to enhance mutual support and cooperation would be discussed at political level during his visit, Bairagi adds.
Former Ambassador Dr Dinesh Bhattarai also expresses his confidence that the British Prince visit would help make age-old friendly ties between Nepal and UK further cordial, consolidated and wide.
In 1852 AD, Nepal’s Prime Minister Junga Bahadur Rana had made first UK visit in course of garnering foreign support and improving relations. Since then, the high-level visits from both the countries have been made. Some 35 high-level visits to the UK have been so far made from Nepal’s side. Prime Minister Manmohan Adhikari had made a trip to UK in 1995.
Likewise, Queen Elizabeth had made two visits to Nepal in 1961 and 1986 while Prince Charles, Princess Diana and Prince Philip had also visited Nepal.
As many as 39 such high-level visits from Britain to Nepal so far have contributed to deepen mutual collaboration, understanding and cooperation between the two friendly countries, Nepal and the UK. (Sharachchandra Bhandary)
