NEW DELHI, July 20. /TASS/. Nepal highly values relations with Russia and stands for expanding partnership, Nepalese Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said in a congratulatory telegram on the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"Nepal attaches great significance to the long-standing warm relations with Russia. Since the establishment of diplomatic relation on July 220, 1956, our countries have been building their ties based on friendship, mutual respect, mutual understanding, and cooperation," the message reads. "Over the past seven decades, our bilateral have been permanently expanding and deepening in various spheres, such as the development of infrastructure, industrialization, personnel training, education, tourism, and human contacts."

According to the top Nepalese diplomat, his country highly values cooperation with Russia "as a symbol of unbreakable friendship between the countries."

"Celebrating this remarkable jubilee in our bilateral relations, we think that it is time to outline new areas of cooperation that would help further expand and deepen our partnership in the next 70 years," Khanal underscored.

Russia and the former Soviet Union established diplomatic relations on July 20, 1956. The Soviet mission was opened in Kathmandu in October 1959 while Nepal opened its embassy in Moscow in July 1961. In 1991, Nepal was among the first to recognize Russia as the Soviet Union’s successor.