Foreign Affairs

A South-Asian Parliamentary Delegation from the German Bundestag, the German House of Representatives, has started meeting top officials in Nepal, soon after arriving on a for a four-day official visit. 

The six-member parliamentary delegation comprises of parliamentarian Renate Künast, Andreas Larem, Paul Lehrieder, Ria Schröder, Dr. Malte Kaufmann and Dr. André Hahn, a press release issued by the German Embassy in Kathmandu said. 

“This visit after the pandemic will further strengthen parliamentary relations between Nepal and Germany, contributing to the long-standing bilateral friendship and cooperation that has lasted for more than 60 years,” the release quoted Renate Künast, the head of the delegation as saying.

The delegation will discuss a wide range of topics, including economic transformation of Nepal, tourism promotion, Nepal’s peace process and human rights, women empowerment, rules-based international order, agriculture and regional cooperation as well as German-Nepali development cooperation, it said. 

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On Monday, the delegation met with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, Speaker of the House of Representative Devraj Ghimire, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Jwala Kumari Sah and Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal. 

The German parliamentary delegation also had an interaction program with members of the Federal Parliament of Nepal.
  
The delegation will also have an interaction with representatives of German Development Cooperation, German NGOs working in Nepal and human rights organisations. The Delegation also plans to visit ICIMOD Knowledge Park, Nepal Vocational Academy, the Nepal Secretariat of Skills and Training (NSST) and the cultural heritages of Bhaktapur and Bauddhanath.