Kathmandu, Oct 23 : Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is leaving for Baku, the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Thursday morning, leading a 21-member Nepali delegation to the 18th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
The Summit is being held from 25 to 26 of October 2019. Prime Minister Oli is being accompanied by his spouse Radhika Shakya.
The Nepali delegation includes Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister Bishnu Rimal, Foreign Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr Rajan Bhattarai, Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi and senior officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Permanent Representative of Nepal to the United Nations Amrit Bahadur Rai also joins the Nepali delegation in Baku.
Foreign Minister Gyawali has already reached Baku to attend the preceding Preparatory Ministerial Meeting that began earlier today. It may be noted Nepal was elected the Vice-Chair of the Ministerial Conference representing the Asia-Pacific region. The 18th Mid-Term Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was held in Baku in April, 2018.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister Oli is scheduled to address the general debate of the Summit on 25th of October. The General Debate of the 18th NAM Summit is being held on the theme of “Upholding the Bandung Principles to ensure concerted and adequate response to the challenges of contemporary world”.
The Prime Minister will attend the official dinner to be hosted by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, in honour of the heads of delegation on 25 October 2019. On the side-lines of the Summit Prime Minister Oli will also hold bilateral meetings with the Heads of Delegations of different countries on the side-lines of the Summit.
The 18th NAM Summit will conclude with the adoption of the Baku Declaration on 26th of October following consideration of the report of the Preparatory Ministerial Meeting held on 23-24 October and a review of the progress achieved in the implementation of the outcomes of the 17th Summit held in 2016. The 17th NAM Summit was held at Margarita Island in Venezuela on 17-18 September, 2016.
As a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, Nepal has been actively participating in all NAM Summits since its inception. Principles of non-alignment constitute one of the basic tenets of Nepal’s foreign policy.
The Prime Minister and his delegation will return from Baku in the evening of 26 October and arrive home in the morning of 27 October 2019, adds the Ministry.
