Kathmandu: The fifth meeting of the Nepal-France Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) was held in Kathmandu on June 19, as part of a regular dialogue between Nepal and France. The Nepali delegation was led by Ganesh Prasad Dhakal, Joint Secretary and Head of the Europe and the Americas Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the representatives from various ministries. The French delegation was led by Benoît Guidée, Director for Asia and Oceania at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and comprised of Virginie Corteval, Ambassador of France to Nepal, Elsa Calley, Deputy Chief of Mission, and Hélène Schinkel, desk officer.
The BCM served as an important platform to take stock of ongoing collaboration and explore new opportunities for deepening engagement between the two countries especially in light of the 75th anniversary of the first ascent of Annapurna by Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal.
The two sides held comprehensive discussions on a range of topics that included economic partnership, science, technology, education, culture, and climate action and expressed mutual interest in strengthening cooperation in both existing and emerging sectors such as renewable energy, early warning system for disaster risk reduction etc. Regional and global matters were also discussed with both sides reaffirming their firm commitment to multilateralism. The sixth meeting is scheduled to take place in Paris at a mutually convenient date.
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