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UNSG to visit Nepal October end: UN

The United Nations has confirmed that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will visit Nepal at the end of this month, during his travel to four Asian nations.

According to the UN News Center, Ban Ki-moon's tour itinerary includes stops in the Philippines, India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Without giving exact date of the visit, UN said Ki-moon will meet with President Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, other officials and members of the Constituent Assembly.

He is also scheduled to visit Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha.

He will first travel to Manila to address the Second Global Forum on Migration and Development and to receive a honourary doctorate from the University of the Philippines.

The Secretary-General will then travel to India, where he is slated to hold talks with President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, among other senior officials, as well as give a lecture at the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and meet with Indian business leaders on climate change

Ban will then wrap up his Asian tour in Bangladesh, where he is expected to have meetings with President Iajuddin Ahmed and other top officials and to visit micro-finance, disaster reduction and climate adaptation sites.

Secretary General had received invitation from Prime Minister Dahal while the PM was in New York to address the General Assembly of the UN. UNMIN chief Ian Martin on Thursday also had hinted on Ban's Nepal travel. nepalnews.com ia Oct 18 08