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Top diplomats of Russia, Nepal to hold talks in Moscow

The parties will also exchange views on global and regional issues

MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/. The foreign ministers of Russia and Nepal, Sergey Lavrov and Pradip Kumar Gyawali, will hold talks in Moscow on Monday to discuss ways to boost relations between the two countries. Nepal’s top diplomat last made an official visit to Russia in 2005.

"There are plans to discuss pressing bilateral issues, including ways to boost political dialogue, trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation, and upgrade the bilateral legal framework," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed out.

The parties will also exchange views on global and regional issues, focusing on the need to enhance interaction within international organizations, first and foremost, the United Nations.

Political dialogue

Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Nepal were established on July 20, 1956. Moscow and Kathmandu maintain political dialogue, interact within the UN and other organizations, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), where Nepal has the status of dialogue partner. The two countries’ foreign ministries established a mechanism for consultations in 1995, the recent round of consultations took place in Kathmandu in April 2018.

Economic cooperation

The two countries have been maintaining trade and economic cooperation since the 1960s, when the Soviet Union assisted in the construction of a number of industrial and infrastructure facilities in Nepal.

Trade between Russia and Nepal stood at only $9.1 mln in 2018, but a 5.5% increase was recorded in the first six months of 2019 compared to the same period last year.

Humanitarian ties

Nepal is a popular tourist destination for Russians. A total of 11,000 Russian tourists visited the country in 2018. The Russian Culture Days festival, held in Nepal in November 2019, proved to be quite a success.

The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that Moscow had sent a team of about 100 rescue workers and doctors to Nepal in 2015 to help the country deal with the aftermath of a powerful earthquake.

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