ISLAMABAD, Dec 13 (APP): Ambassador of Nepal to Pakistan Tapas Adhikari said on Tuesday that Nepal and Pakistan are enjoying excellent bilateral relations based on goodwill, mutual trust cooperation and ties between the two countries further strengthened by the high-level interactions and people-to-people contacts.
Talking to media persons here, he said, “The relationship between Nepal and Pakistan have always been cordial and friendly. The establishment of diplomatic relations in 1960 further enriched bilateral engagements and understandings.
The envoy said both countries have similar views on many issues of common interests at various regional and international forums.
Bilateral trade, similar cultural and social values based on agrarian economy, tourism and mountaineering, cooperation in education sectors, among others, have further enriched the bilateral cooperation, he added.
Both countries, the ambassador said are founders of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and have been working to promote regional cooperation.
He said, melting glaciers, changing agriculture patterns, migration has impacted the livelihood of people and the recent flood in Pakistan is a living testimony of climate change in the region.
“Therefore, Nepal and Pakistan need to work together to mitigate the negative consequences of climate change” he added.
Tapas Adhikari said, “The bilateral trade relations are very limited but it is increasing day by day. We are optimistic about recent positive trends after the Covid-19 pandemic on bilateral economic engagements and hope it will surpass pre-covid level very soon.”
In 2020, Nepal exported goods of 100 million NRs and imported 1.04 billion NRs. from Pakistan he said adding the Embassy is committed to work with the business community in Pakistan towards further enhancing the bilateral trade relations between our countries.
He said that Nepali and Pakistani mountaineers are working together in various expeditions sharing skills, knowledge and techniques of mountaineering and expanding mountaineering in our countries.
“I believe continued cooperation between Nepali and Pakistani mountaineers will make a difference to both countries, making it the center of mountain and adventure tourism” the ambassador said.
He noted that Pakistan has a rich cultural and religious heritage. Pakistan is the place where great religions and philosophy like Hinduism, Buddhism Sikhism and Sufism were established or flourished, he added.
The ambassador said, that there are Buddhists artifacts scattered across Taxila valley, Takhta-i-Bahi and in different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other part of Pakistan.
He said, “Taxila used to be a center of learning and propagating Buddhism in different parts of the world. It shows that Buddhism had deeply rooted in these areas.”
The envoy said, “I am happy to see the preservation of the Buddhist heritage in Pakistan despite being an Islamic country and I believe this is something the people of the world should know about.”
