Nepal accords top priority to China, India: minister

WALK TO SCHOOL: A young schoolgirl walks with a family member at a relief camp for survivors of the Nepal earthquakes in Kathmandu yesterday, following twin earthquakes which struck the Himalayan nation in April and May 2015. The World Bank announced in June that it will provide up to $500m for reconstruction in quake-devastated country.

IANSKathmanduNepal has said that it gives high priority to neighboring countries in its foreign policy.“We acknowledge that the 21st century is the Asian century. We are aware about progress made by emerging economies of the world - China and India. Nepal’s foreign policy priorities begin with neighbouring India and China,” Nepal’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Mahendra Bahadur Pandey told reporters at the ministry of foreign affairs on Thursday evening, Xinhua reported.The minister also said that Nepal wants to achieve more advantages by strengthening mutual trust and relations with both countries in the days to come as well. “The main goal of our foreign policy is to enhance better relations with the neighbours,” he added. He also thanked the neighboring countries for their continued support and co-operation in various areas including in the aftermath of the April 25 devastating earthquake and ensuing aftershocks.“We express gratitude to our neighboring countries as well as the international community for their generous support in the aftermath of the earthquake,” the minister said.Experts have recommended a major organisational overhaul at the foreign ministry to streamline services and improve the country’s diplomatic standing. After five months of rigorous study, four separate panels of experts have suggested the ministry to revamp its structure from top to bottom, reform its organisational policy, and re-orient diplomacy for effective functioning and service delivery. The ministry had formed the panels to come up with strategies to address its shortcomings pointed out by various stakeholders.The ministry had received several grievances regarding its working style, growing influence of political parties within the organisation, general attitude of the staff towards their work and the way diplomacy was being practised.The major recommendations made by the four panels include training the foreign service staff, grooming diplomats on expertise-basis, promptly filling the vacancies in foreign missions, and streamlining the services provided by the Department of Consular and Passports.