NICE to organize two-day Int’l Conference on Nepal’s Foreign Policy

Kathmandu / Nov 26: A two-day international virtual conference on “Understanding Nepal’s Foreign Policy” is being held on 27 and 28 November.

Organized by Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement (NICE) in Kathmandu, the conference will hold 27 different sessions where more than 140 scholars, diplomats, policymakers, senior journalists, and experts will be sharing their views. All 27 sessions will provide a platform for deliberation of issues that impact or will impact Nepal’s Foreign Policy in the years to come.

The two-day conference on “Understanding Nepal’s Foreign Policy” aims to stimulate comprehensive discourses and conversations on Nepal’s foreign policy with the purpose of discussing its policy priorities and choices, identifying the current complexities and gaps, establishing new discourses, amplifying the number of researches on Nepal’s foreign policy and encouraging young scholars to develop Nepal’s foreign policy as the area of their interest. The conference is expected to provide an opportunity to expand the visibility of Nepal’s foreign policy priorities in the region and beyond. The conference will be held fully in virtual format due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Nearly all the sessions will be running parallel during the two-day event. The sessions will be addressed by several illuminating dignitaries from across numerous sectors, including the Ambassador of Australia to Nepal- H.E. Felicity Volk, Ambassador of Israel to Nepal – H.E. Mr. Hanan Goder, Deputy Ambassador of the United Kingdom – Edward Roberts, Mission Director for USAID Nepal – Sepideh Keyvanshad, Deputy Chief of Political-Economic Section at US Embassy Kathmandu- Mark Templer and Nepali diplomats working in missions abroad such as Nepalese Ambassador to UAE- H.E. Krishna Prasad Dhakal, Nepali Ambassador to the State of Kuwait- H.E. Krishna Prasad Dhakal and Nepali Ambassador to Canada- H.E. Bhrigu Dhungana. Likewise, a book discussion will be convened on “Kathmandu Dilemma: Resetting India-Nepal Ties” authored by Former Ambassador Ranjit Rae.

Twenty-seven panels will be holding discourses around themes such as Nepal-India relations, Nepal-China relations, Nepal’s Economic Diplomacy, Labour Diplomacy, Public Diplomacy, Women in Nepal’s Foreign Policy, Nepal’s relations with Great Powers, Emerging Security Challenges of Nepal, Nepal in Multilateral and International Forums Nepal-Japan Partnership, Nepal-Europe Engagement alongside the emerging issues like the Millennium Challenge Corporation Debate, Feminist Foreign policy, Hydro Diplomacy, and Climate Diplomacy. Thousands of experts across the region and beyond are expected to attend and benefit from the conference.

The chief guest of the ceremony will be Narayan Kaji Shrestha, Former Deputy PM and Foreign Minister, Nepal. Prof. Dr. Meena Vaidya Malla, National Defense University, Amb. Dr. Dinesh Bhattarai, Former Advisor to PM of Nepal. Prof. Dr. Shambhuram Simkhada, Former Diplomat and National Defence University, Prof. Dr. Khadga KC, Professor, Department of International Relations and Diplomacy, Amb. Dr. Madan Bhattarai, Former Foreign Secretary of Nepal, and Deepak R Joshi, Founding Executive Member, World Tourism Network will preside over the session, according to a press statement issued by the organizer.