Kathmandu, Oct 29: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ hosted a dinner reception in honour of visiting United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
Welcoming the UN Secretary-General and members of the UN delegation, PM Prachanda recalled his memories of welcoming former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2008 while Nepal was transitioning to peace after an epochal political transformation.
On the occasion, the PM said that Nepal’s peace process has marched a long and successful journey, a journey that stands as a testament of the commitment and determination of Nepali political leadership, enduring resilience of our people and continued goodwill and support of international community, including the United Nations.
The PM said that the promulgation of the Constitution in 2015 and the successive two cycles of democratic elections at all three tiers of federal system reaffirm that Nepal is on the right path, a path of peace, stability, democracy, and development. “As we gear to the concluding phase of the remaining leg of the peace process, I am confident that we will accomplish it in equally successful way and present a successful example of conflict transformation to peace and democracy,” he said.
The PM also stated that Nepal highly values the United Nations’ support throughout this process and goodwill of the international community.
On the occasion, the PM said that United Nations cooperation in Nepal’s socio-economic development has been equally important and UN’s support in critical areas of education, health, maternal and childcare and immunization has helped improve Nepal’s human development indicators and augment Nepal’s progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Likewise, he said that the principles enshrined in the UN Charter constitute guiding principles of Nepal’s foreign policy and added that Nepal firmly believes that complex global issues can be addressed only through multilateralism with the United Nations at its center. “Nepal takes immense pride in its enduring association with the United Nations in the maintenance of international peace and security through UN mandated peacekeeping missions,” he observed.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, deputy prime ministers, ministers, former Prime Ministers, diplomats, leaders of different political parties and high-ranking government officials, among others were present at the reception.
