HEADLINE NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

Their Majesties, Premier invited to visit Mongolia

By a staff reporter

Kathmandu, Jan. 7: Their Majesties the King and Queen have accepted with pleasure the invitation extended by the President of Mongolia Natsagiin Bagabandi to pay a state visit to Mongolia.

This is stated in a joint statement issued today by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the end of the three-day state visit of the President of Mongolia to Nepal.

The Mongolian President has also invited Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to pay an official visit to Mongolia, and the Prime Minister has accepted the invitation with pleasure.

The dates of both the visits would be worked out through diplomatic channels.

The joint statement says during the official talks the two sides reviewed the present state of relations between the two countries and agreed to utilise the possibilities of furthering trade and economic relations between the two countries under the trade agreement signed between the two governments in 1992.

"While Mongolia showed interest to export wool to Nepal, Nepal saw the potential of export of handicrafts, especially the Buddhist artefacts, to Mongolia," the joint statement says.

The two sides also identified the potential of bilateral cooperation in the fields of agriculture, livestock, highland pasturing and horse breeding and Mongolia has agreed to look into the possibility of providing some scholarships to Nepal in these areas.

According to the joint statement, the Nepalese side stated that Nepal would give favourable consideration as far as practicable to Mongolia’s desire to send their defence personnel for peace-keeping training at the Royal Nepal Army’s Peacekeeping Training Centre.

The joint statement says the framework agreement on bilateral cooperation, signed during the visit of the Mongolian President, and the Joint Commission at the level of the Foreign Ministers, has envisaged cooperation in different fields between the two countries.

The Mongolian side thanked His Majesty’s Government on the prompt response to its request to establish their honorary consulate in Kathmandu and both sides viewed this will contribute in enhancing the trade links between the two countries, the joint statement says.

The joints statement also says that during their talks Nepalese Prime Minister Koirala briefed President Bagabandi on the problem of the Bhutanese refugees and the Mongolian President, while appreciating Nepal for giving refuge to some one hundred thousand Bhutanese refugees in Nepal, expressed his earnest hope that the problem would resolved at the earliest.

JOINT STATEMENT ISSUED

The full text of the Joint Statement is as follows:

1. At the invitation of Their Majesties King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev and Queen Aishwarya Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah, President of Mongolia His Excellency Mr. Natsagiin Bagabandi and Madame Oyunbileg paid a state visit to the Kingdom of Nepal from January 05-07, 2001. H.E. The President was accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Industry and Commerce and other senior officials of Mongolia.

Their Majesties the King and Queen hosted a state banquet at the Narayanhity Royal Palace in honour of the visiting President of Mongolia on January 05, 2001.

Their Majesties the King and Queen and the President of Mongolia and Madame Oyunbileg visited Lumbini on January 06, 2001. During the visit, President Bagabandi laid the foundation stone of the Mongolian monastery there.

The Rt. Hon. Prime Minister, Mr Girija Prasad Koirala, the Hon. Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Chakra Prasad Bastola and the Hon. leader of the opposition in the House of Representatives, Mr Madhav Kumar Nepal, called on the President of Mongolia. President Bagabandi attended a function held at the Kasthamandap by the Kathmandu Metropolis on January 05, 2001 and signed the visitor' book of the city of Kathmandu. He was also presented with a key to the Kathmandu city amidst the same function.

The Prime Minister hosted a dinner in honour of President Bagabandi on January 06, 2001. A civic reception was hosted in honour of President Bagabandi the same afternoon. The president laid a wreath at the martyrs' memorial in Kathmandu. The President also visited the Royal Nepal Army Peacekeeping Training Centre at Pachkhal and was briefed on the activities of the centre.

2. Official talks were held between the delegations of the Kingdom of Nepal and Mongolia on January 06, 2001 respectively led by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and President Natsagiin Bagabandi. While Prime Minister Koirala was assisted by the Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Chakra Prasad Bastola, the Minister for Industries, Commerce and Supplies Mr Ram Krishna Tamrakar, the Minister for Science and Technology and the accompanying Minister, Mr Surendra Prasad Chaudhary, Royal Nepalese Ambassador to Mongolia, principal personal secretary to the Prime Minister, chief secretary, secretary in the Prime Minister's office, foreign secretary, finance secretary and other senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Mongolian President was assisted by the Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr L. Erdenechuluun, the Minister for Industry and Commerce Mr Ch. Ganzorig, the Mongolian Ambassador to Nepal, the Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and other senior officials of Mongolia.

3. During the talks, the Prime Minister, while expressing his happiness over the visit of His Excellency the President during the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, stated that the visit would be an important milestone in the history of Nepal-Mongolia relations and herald a new era of mutually beneficial co-operation between the two countries.

4. The two sides reviewed the current state of economic and trade relations between them and agreed to utilise the existing potential in these fields. While the Mongolian side displayed its interest to export more wool to Nepal, the Nepalese side showed its interest to export handicrafts, especially the Buddhist artefacts to Mongolia. Both sides noted that there is a great deal of potential for expanding the economic ties in the fields of wool processing and handicrafts. The two sides expressed the view that there are opportunities for both sides to expand their trade relations under the existing trade agreement signed between the two governments in 1992.

5. The two sides also recognised the potentials for bilateral cooperation in the fields of agriculture, livestock, highland pasturing and horse breeding. The Mongolian side agreed to look into the possibility of providing some scholarships to the Nepalese side in these fields.

6. The Mongolian side expressed their desire to send their defence personnel for receiving peacekeeping training at the Royal Nepal Army Peacekeeping Training Centre. The Nepalese side stated that it would give favourable consideration to the Mongolian request as far as practicable.

7. While recognising the importance of close bilateral cooperation between the two countries in different areas, the two sides shared the view that the framework agreement on bilateral cooperation signed during the visit will go a long way in the history of bilateral relations between the two countries inasmuch as it has envisaged cooperation in the various fields and has created an institutional mechanism-- a joint commission-- at the level of foreign ministers to act as an umbrella body to review their relations. The agreement was signed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Chakra Prasad Bastola from the Nepalese side and by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Luvsangiin Erdenechuluun from the Mongolian side in the presence of the President of Mongolia and the Prime Minister of Nepal.

8. His Majesty's Government accepted the Mongolian request to establish their honorary consulate in Kathmandu. The Mongolian President thanked His Majesty's Government for a prompt decision made in this respect. The two sides were of the view that the establishment of the honorary consulate of Mongolia will contribute in further enhancing the trade links between the two countries.

9. The Prime Minister briefed the president on the problem of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. The Mongolian President, while appreciating His Majesty's Government of Nepal for being host to some one hundred thousand Bhutanese refugees in Nepal, sympathised with the latter and expressed the earnest hope that this problem would be resolved at the earliest.

10. The Prime Minister also briefed the President on the activities of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation including Nepal's readiness to host the stalled eleventh summit in Kathmandu at a date convenient to its member states.

11. The two sides also touched upon the various aspects of international issues of mutual concern. The two countries, while expressing satisfaction over the existing cooperation between them, also agreed to continue working together in various international fora for promoting the cause of developing landlocked countries.

12. The two sides reiterated their willingness to make a contribution to the cause of peace, stability, cooperation and progress throughout the world, in general, and in the Asia and Pacific Region, in particular, and underscored the importance of interactions and exchange of views within the framework of the united nations as well as regional and other multilateral fora.

13. Both sides stressed the need to reform and adapt the United Nations to the evolving international realities with a view to ensuring its efficient functioning in the era of globalization as envisaged in the United Nations millennium declaration. In this regard, both sides reaffirmed their stance for just and equitable enlargement of the Security Council by increasing the number of permanent and non-permanent seats and ensuring representation of both developing and developed countries.

14. Nepal and Mongolia, as fellow members of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of 77, reiterated the importance of increasing the role of the movement and the group in developing more action-oriented south-south cooperation and meaningful north-south partnership with a view to creating a healthier world free from fear and free from want.

15. The two sides agreed that periodic high level visits and people-to-people contacts will contribute in further strengthening the bilateral relations so happily existing between the two countries.

16. The Mongolian Minister for Industry and Commerce, Mr Ch. Ganzorig and Deputy Minister for Infrastructure, Mr. U. Ulambayar, held a meeting with the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Mr Ram Krishna Tamrakar, on January 05, 2001. The business communities of both the countries held a meeting and discussed at length about the ways and means to promote bilateral trade relations between the two countries.

17. The visiting President extended an invitation to Their Majesties the King and Queen to pay a state visit to Mongolia. Their Majesties accepted the invitation with pleasure and the dates of the visit would be worked out through diplomatic channels.

18. The President also invited Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to pay an official visit to Mongolia. The Prime Minister accepted the invitation with pleasure and the dates of the visit would be worked out through diplomatic channels.

19. The Mongolian President thanked Their Majesties the King and Queen, the Prime Minister and His Majesty's Government as well as the people of Nepal for the excellent arrangement made for the success of his visit.

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