Australia’s Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Richard Marles arrived in the Capital for a two-day visit on Monday.

Immediately upon arrival, he met with Finance Minister Barsha Man Pun and other senior officials at the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and announced Australian government’s raise in assistance by 5 million Australian dollars this year. With the increase in aid, the annual Australian assistance to Nepal has reached 35 million Australian dollars (about Rs. 3.29 billion).

The Australian government’s aid will go to sectors like health, education and rural development and other possible areas where Australia could increase its assistance to Nepal.

However, Marles expressed serious concern over the political developments of Nepal including slowed economic growth and Nepal’s inability to achieve governance reforms.

Durig his stay, Marles is scheduled to hold high-level meetings with Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayankaji Shrestha, Vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission (NPC) Deependra Bahadur Chhetri among others and discuss bilateral relations between the two countries and other areas of assistance and cooperation. nepalnews.com