A Talk Programme
On
Nepal- Egypt Relations
To Commemorate the Golden Jubilee Celebration of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Nepal and Arab Republic of Egypt
As part of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Nepal and the Arab Republic of Egypt, a half-day talk programme on "Nepal- Egypt Relations to Commemorate the Golden Jubilee Celebration of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Nepal and Arab Republic of Egypt" was organized by the Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA) at the Hotel Malla, Lainchaur, Kathmandu on 24th July, 2007.
The programme was chaired by Prof. Dr. Gopal Prasad Pokharel, Executive Director of IFA. Hon'ble Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Sahana Pradhan graced the programme as the Chief Guest, while the Guest of Honour was H.E. Mr. Abdelhamid Mahmod Soleiman, the Ambassador of Arab Republic of Egypt to Nepal. Mr. Hira Bahadur Thapa, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), presented his paper entitled "Nepal-Egypt Relations: Present Reality and Future Prospects".
Addressing the programme, Mrs. Pradhan said that ever since the establishment of bilateral relationship between Nepal and Arab Republic of Egypt, the two countries had remained closer and exchanged regular visits.
She expressed the hope that the bilateral relations between the two friendly countries would be consolidated through frequent contacts of not only high-level delegations but also of businessmen, entrepreneurs, traders, industrialists as well as tourists.
Emphasising the need for promoting tourism between Nepal and Egypt, she said that the former would be able to reap benefits if it attracted even one percent of tourists visiting Egypt.
Recalling her recent visit to Egypt, said that she was very much delighted to visit the Agriculture Research Center, Electricity Centre, National Council of Safe Motherhood and Child, and Sports Council there.
She disclosed that she had requested the Government of Egypt to do something special in Nepal for mutual benefits.
Appreciating the technological advancement of Egypt in harnessing the Nile River, she opined that if Nepal could adopt the Egyptian technology to generate hydroelectricity, Nepal would be able to achieve its economic progress soon.
Delving on agricultural progress of Egypt, she said that Egypt had only 4 percent arable land until four decades ago. "With the technological advancement, Egypt has been able to increase its arable land to 8 percent.
Highlighting the importance of cultural heritage, she called for establishing a library of cultural importance in Nepal as Egypt had recently set up in Alexandra.
According to her, a cultural group from Egypt would be visiting Nepal in September 2007 to mark the Golden Jubilee Celebration of the establishment of the diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Lauding Egypt for maintaining gender equality, she said that the country was successful enough to have 33 women judges in the courts, 20 percent of women ambassadors and 15 percent of women Member of Parliaments (MPs).
Shedding light on the Egyptian Government's effort to make available consumer goods at subsidized rates, she said that one could buy 20 pieces of bread with one pound there. "If we are able to adopt such a policy in Nepal, we could at least reduce the rate of hunger in the country," she said.
Revealing the two agreements, which were recently signed between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Nepal and Egypt, she expressed her belief that the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation and the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism would help facilitate and enhance the bilateral relationship and cooperation.
In his address, Egyptian envoy Mr. Soleiman said that Nepal and Egypt had been maintaining their bilateral ties, mutual cooperation and friendship since the Bandung Conference held in Indonesia.
"Nepal and Egypt have excellent relationship, which can be enhanced further through regular exchange of visits between the two countries," he said.
Citing the importance of the role played by the two countries in the movement of African and Asian Solidarity and the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM), Mr. Soleiman said that the role was more important during the period of cold war and decolonization.
He commended Nepal's support to Egypt on political level. "Nepal supported us during the war of 1956 and helped in passing the 242 resolution. We appreciate Nepal for extending its continued support to Egypt at different international forums," he added.
Showing Egypt's support to the ongoing peace process in Nepal, he expressed the commitment that his country had already deployed seven monitors to observe the forthcoming Constituent Assembly (CA) polls.
"Egypt will make every effort to restore permanent peace in Nepal," the envoy said.
He termed the recent official visit of Minister Mrs. Sahana Pradhan to Egypt as a milestone in consolidating the bilateral ties between the two countries. He also emphasized the need for exchanging frequent visits of experts.
He said that there were many things to be done in the field of medicine, agriculture, industry, commerce, etc in Nepal.
He also made clear that the Arab Republic of Egypt would do something concrete by establishing Egyptian products in Nepal and inviting Egyptian businessmen's delegation to Nepal in the days to come. "The delegation members will get the opportunity to meet their counterparts and share their experiences," he said.
He also suggested that Nepal should send similar delegations to Egypt so as to enhance economic cooperation.
Presenting his paper, Mr. Hira Bahadur Thapa, Joint Secretary at MoFA, said that celebration of the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Nepal and Egypt this year would open up new avenues of cooperation to strengthen the bilateral relations to a new height.
He said that political relations between the two countries became stronger and closer, as both the parties were able to consolidate them opening up a wide range of avenues of cooperation such as culture, trade, investment, tourism, etc.
He equally emphasized that Nepal would remain effortful to capitalize on the Golden Jubilee Celebration of the establishment of the diplomatic ties between the two countries by forging new trading relationship.
Highlighting the future prospects of the Nepal-Egypt ties in cultural aspects, he called for exchanging cultural troupes of both the countries, which, in his view, would not only educate audiences in each country. "This will not only help enhance people-to-people contact but also play an important role in promoting tourism between the two countries," he said.
He conceded the fact that Nepal and Egypt were unable to strengthen economic ties to the desired extent due to physical distance.
He said that Nepal needed to accelerate its trade ties with Egypt by exporting a number of items like garlic, tea and coffee, among others with the country having certain comparative advantages.
He suggested that that the businessmen and entrepreneurs from Nepal and Egypt should exchange their visits in order to explore prospects of economic cooperation.
"Transportation costs do not necessarily make every tradable item expensive. Business prospect should be considered in terms of comparative advantage of the products themselves," he said.
Shedding light on the role played by Nepal and Egypt in contributing to world peace, he said that both the countries had been doing their best by sending peacekeepers, which included civilians, police and army personnel in many UN Missions.
He added that the bilateral ties between the two countries had remained cordial and warm ever since the establishment of their diplomatic relations. "Its evidence is that both the countries have received continued cooperation from each other on a mutual basis in various forums, including United Nations (UN), NAM, G77 and others," he said.
Earlier, delivering his welcome address, Prof. Dr. Gopal Pokharel said that the bilateral relations between Nepal and Egypt had been marked by mutual trust and understanding ever since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1957.
"As both Nepal and Egypt are the founding members of NAM, the former appreciates the pioneer role of the latter for the promotion of the movement and the implementation of its principles", Prof. Pokharel, who also chaired the function, added.
He was of the opinion that Nepal and Egypt shared almost identical views on the issues related to the promotion of world peace in UN and many other international forums.
He also recalled Nepal's endorsement of the Camp David Accord between Egypt and Israel in 1978, which led to the signing of peace treaty between them in 1979. Appreciating the invaluable assistance provided by Egypt to Nepal in the fields of agriculture, medicine and animal health, he said that Nepal would remain thankful to the people and the Government of Egypt for their continuous support.
Talking about scholarships provided by the Egyptian Government to the Nepalese students to study Islamic religion at the Al Azhar University in Cairo, Prof. Pokharel said that the Arab Republic of Egypt was willing to support in a number of areas in Nepal's development effort.
"In today's world of globalization, Nepal and Egypt should strive sincerely for exploring more avenues of mutual cooperation. He also stressed the need to explore and derive comparative advantages to the best possible extent.
"Such schemes may cover a wide range of fundamental issues like trade, investment, tourism, etc", he added.
Focussing on the recent visit of Nepal's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Sahana Pradhan to Egypt, he said that the exchange of visits at higher level on different occasions from both the countries would help in consolidating the existing bilateral ties on the basis of mutual interest.
He also hoped that the Golden Jubilee Celebrations would be helpful in enhancing bilateral cooperation.
He also called for both the countries to ponder over widening of technical and economic cooperation to further consolidate their existing bilateral relations. He suggested that the two friendly nations should develop mechanisms in order to explore further prospects cooperation in the days ahead.
Floor Discussion
Following Mr. Thapa's presentation, scholars from various fields raised their queries. In response to Prof. Dr. Soorya Lal Amatya's question regarding optimum utilization of water resources as Egypt has done from the Nile River, Mr. Thapa said that Nepal would reap a lot of benefit through proper utilization of water resources.
Prof. S.M. Habibullah said that the paper could be more effective if the author touched upon the present world scenario. He further added that Egypt could help mobilize the sentiments of Arab countries to ameliorate the conditions of Nepali labourers there.
Responding to Prof. Habibullah's queries, Mr. Thapa said that he was simply trying to present the historical perspective, which led Nepal to establish diplomatic relation with the far distant country, Egypt.
In terms of labour issue, Mr. Thapa said that a constructive step had been initiated with the signing of bilateral labour agreement between Nepal and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He further added that Nepal was keenly interested in inking such agreements with other countries, especially with the Gulf countries.
Prof. Dr. T. N. Jaiswal suggested that NAM had to adjust with the changing world scenario from 1990. He wanted to know about the areas of development that Egypt could help Nepal in the changed context.
In his response, Mr. Thapa accepting the suggestion, and said that the Egyptian technology could be applied in Nepal for generating electricity, which would help a lot in making New Nepal.
Another participant Dr. Meena Baidya Malla asked H.E. Mr. Abdelhamid Mahmod Soleiman whether the Arab Republic of Egypt had ever focused its attention on gender development and women's empowerment in connection with the Nepal-Egypt relationship.
Replying her query, the Egyptian envoy said that his government had accorded due priority for gender development and formed the National Council for Women to deal with gender issues.
In his comment, Mr. Lal Babu Yadav said that the author had mentioned that only Muslim students from Nepal received scholarships in Egypt. Mr. Yadav commented that the author had failed to explore other areas of study such as medicine, engineering, agriculture and Information technology (IT).
Mr. Prakash A. Raj asked the author whether Nepal had consultation mechanisms with other countries.
Responding to Mr. Raj's question, the author said that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would cover the element of consultation mechanisms between Nepal and other countries.
Mr. M.R. Josse viewed that Nepal could benefit tremendously from tourism if it could attract even a small share of tourists visiting Egypt. Highlighting the rich expertise of Egypt in the field of cultural preservation, Mr. Josse suggested that Nepal should apply the Egyptian expertise to preserve cultural heritage of Nepal.
Agreeing with Mr. Josse's idea, the author opined that the Nepalese tourism entrepreneurs should approach their Egyptian counterparts with aggressive plans and policies to attract tourists.
At the end of the programme, Ms. Anjan Shakya, Deputy Executive Director of IFA, extended her vote of thanks to the chief guest, the guest of honour, paper presenter and other invitees.
Ms. Shakya said that Nepal and the Arab Republic of Egypt had been maintaining their bilateral ties in the interests of their people during the last 50 years.
Depicting some cultural similarities between Nepal and Egypt, Ms. Shakya said that the people from both the countries had taken the nature, the sun, fire, water, wind, etc. as symbols of god.
Laying her focus on the enhancement of economic relations between Nepal and Egypt, she suggested that the chambers of commerce and businessmen from the countries should exchange their visits so as to establish business ties.
"There are enormous scopes for promoting bilateral trade between the two nations," she said.
She was of the opinion that the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic ties between the two countries would be instrumental in enhancing economic cooperation.
A Talk Programme
On
Russian-Chinese Relations and the Development
of Shanghai Cooperation Organization
A half-day talk programme on Russian-Chinese Relations and the Development of Shanghai Cooperation Organization was jointly organized by the Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA) and the Russian Centre of Science and Culture at the Auditorium Hall of the Russian Centre of Science and Culture at Kamalpokhari, Kathmandu, on August 24, 2007.
The programme was held under the chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Gopal Pokharel, Executive Director of IFA. Mr. Gyan Chandra Acharya, Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), graced the function as the chief guest, while Prof. Dr. Alexander Lukin, Director of the Centre for East Asian and Shanghai Cooperation Organization Studies under the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, was the keynote speaker. The well-known Russian scholar also worked at the Soviet Foreign Ministry, Soviet Embassy in China and Oriental Studies of the Soviet Academy of Science.
Addressing the programme, Foreign Secretary Mr. Acharya lauded the Russian scholar for his brief but analytical presentation about the excellent relationship between Russia and China in the past. "The bilateral ties between the two countries are being enhanced at present as well," he added.
He expressed the view that the good relationship between the two major powers (Russia and China) would have positive impact on all the countries across the world.
"As we have entered into the new era of relationship at the global level, all of us are looking forward to consolidating the relationship between Russia and China and among all the major powers," he added.
He said that the regional body was going ahead in a right direction.
He further said that the organization had developed and explored new areas of cooperation, especially in the field of water resources, energy, infrastructure, and social, political and economic spheres. "We are closely watching the development and progress of the SCO, which is more vibrant than the SARRC," he said.
"We are also keen to see its all dimensions—geostrategic, economic, social as well as cooperation among the regional organizations," he said.
Calling the Central Asia a close neighbour, he said it had a lot of direct and indirect impacts on Nepal. "So, we have much interest in the SCO," he said.
He said that Nepal was looking into the possibility of being an observer of the regional body.
"It is a matter of pride for us to know that Afghanistan was a special guest this year in the Bishkek Summit where many of the economic and security issues were thoroughly discussed," he said.
He said that the developing countries like Nepal basically believed that cooperation and mutual understanding among the countries in the region would create a synergetic effect on the development of the region as a whole. "It will promote goodwill and peace in the region," he said.
Talking about the promotion of trade and development of infrastructure and energy, he said that Nepal would benefit a lot from the SCO in the days ahead.
Concluding his remarks, he expressed the belief that the talk programme would be useful to all to understand more about China and Russia in terms of state-to-state and people-to-people relations.
Presenting his keynote address on the same topic of the talk programme, Prof. Dr. Lukin said that the SCO was striving for promoting bilateral relationship, and regional and cultural cooperation among the member states.
Stressing the bilateral ties between the two neighbours, Prof. Lukin said that Russia and China were the best friends since the 1950s. He said that both the countries were interested in abiding by international laws as members of the UN Security Council.
He further said that Russia and China shared common views on international problems like ongoing turmoil in Yugoslavia, Iraq and North Korea.
Prof. Lukin said that trade turnover between the two countries increased to US$ 4-5 billion in 1990. He was hopeful that this year's turnover would reach US$ 35 billion. "Russia has become one of the top suppliers of natural resources to China. It basically supplies oil, timber, including other natural resources", he said.
He disclosed the fact that in the recent
New ambassadors appointed
Following extensive discussions among the eight political parties, the Government of Nepal has appointed new ambassadors of Nepal to different countries.
Mr. Pradeep Khatiwada has been appointed ambassador of Nepal to Bangladesh, Mr. Pramesh Hamal to Belgium, Mr. Tanka Karki to China), Mr. Bal Bahadur Kunwar to Pakistan, Dr. Ganesh Yonjan to Japan, Dr. Surya Nath Mishra to Qatar and Mrs. Gunalaxmi Sharma BK to Myanmar.
Similarly, Ms. Pampha Bhusal has been appointed the ambassador of Nepal to France, Mr. Bijaya Kanta Lal Karna to Denmark, Mr. Yogendra Dhakal to Australia, and Dr. Rishi Adhikary to Malaysia. Mr. Arjun Thapa has been entrusted with the responsibility of Nepal's ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Prof. Baija Nath Thapaliya to Israel, Dr. Kamal Koirala to the Republic of Korea, Dr Suresh Chalise to the United States, Mr. Surya Kiran Gurung to the Russian Federation, Mr. Navin Prakash Jung Shah to Thailand), Mr. Murari Raj Sharma to the United Kingdom and Mr. Hamid Ansari to Saudi Arabia Dr. Dinesh Bhattarai has been appointed as Nepal's Resident representative in Geneva. Similarly, Ms. Shailaja Acharya has been appointed the ambassador of Nepal to India. However, the Parliamentary Special Hearing Committee (PSHC) has not approved Ms. Acharya's nomination.
This is for the first time that Nepal has established its embassies in the Republic of Korea, Australia, Malaysia and Denmark.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent the nomination documents of all the 21 envoy-nominees to the respective countries.
Summit, both the countries decided to establish the Trade Chamber of Russia and China, which would deal with the economic issues.
Prof. Lukin said that the regional cooperation between Russia, China and other member states of the SCO had been increasing. "Fighting terrorism, promoting economic cooperation and developing infrastructure were the three areas of regional cooperation of the SCO. Realising the growing global threat of terrorism after 9-11 terrorist attack, all the member states of the SCO have signed the declaration on fighting terrorism jointly", he said.
Shedding light on the negative media coverage about the SOC, he said that the organization was blamed time and again as an alternative to the NATO and an organization of anti-western alliances. He made it clear that the organization was not an agent of an anti-western alliances, but it was an organization formed for working together with UN, EU, among others, to enhance regional cooperation for fighting terrorism.
Emphasising the economic cooperation of the organization, he said that there were several plans of economic cooperation adopted by the SCO. He added that the organization had already initiated the two projects of building roads in Central Asia which would connect Russia and China through Central Asia.
Recalling the recent remarks of the President of Russia, Mr. Vladimir Putin in
New ambassadors appointed
Following extensive discussions among the eight political parties, the Government of Nepal has appointed new ambassadors of Nepal to different countries.
Mr. Pradeep Khatiwada has been appointed ambassador of Nepal to Bangladesh, Mr. Pramesh Hamal to Belgium, Mr. Tanka Karki to China), Mr. Bal Bahadur Kunwar to Pakistan, Dr. Ganesh Yonjan to Japan, Dr. Surya Nath Mishra to Qatar and Mrs. Gunalaxmi Sharma BK to Myanmar.
Similarly, Ms. Pampha Bhusal has been appointed the ambassador of Nepal to France, Mr. Bijaya Kanta Lal Karna to Denmark, Mr. Yogendra Dhakal to Australia, and Dr. Rishi Adhikary to Malaysia. Mr. Arjun Thapa has been entrusted with the responsibility of Nepal's ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Prof. Baija Nath Thapaliya to Israel, Dr. Kamal Koirala to the Republic of Korea, Dr Suresh Chalise to the United States, Mr. Surya Kiran Gurung to the Russian Federation, Mr. Navin Prakash Jung Shah to Thailand), Mr. Murari Raj Sharma to the United Kingdom and Mr. Hamid Ansari to Saudi Arabia Dr. Dinesh Bhattarai has been appointed as Nepal's Resident representative in Geneva. Similarly, Ms. Shailaja Acharya has been appointed the ambassador of Nepal to India. However, the Parliamentary Special Hearing Committee (PSHC) has not approved Ms. Acharya's nomination.
This is for the first time that Nepal has established its embassies in the Republic of Korea, Australia, Malaysia and Denmark.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent the nomination documents of all the 21 envoy-nominees to the respective countries.
Summit, he said that his president had proposed an idea of creating Energy Club of SCO with the aim of maintaining stable system of energy supply among the member states.
Highlighting the cultural cooperation of the organization, Prof. Lukin said that most of the constituent member states of the organization had been facing cultural threats from outsiders. "There is external influence on culture of these countries and have been facing internal problems. Hence, to preserve the age-old culture of the region, the organization is trying to do something special", he said.
He added that his president, in the Bishkek Summit held on August 16, 2007, proposed for establishing Asia University, Asia Sports and Medical Help aiming at helping the least developed member states of the SCO.
Prof. Lukin also said that SCO could play an active role in developing multipolar structure in the world without being influenced from external forces.
Emphasising the popularity of the organization, Prof. Lukin said that the organization being self-dependent and sovereign, there had been growing interests of many countries for its membership.
He disclosed the fact that the demonstration of Pakistan's and South Korea's interests to be its full member and Japan's and Nepal's wish to be its observer showed that the organization was growing and developing in its right direction.
Offering a brief introduction to the SCO, Prof. Pokharel, Executive Director of IFA, said that the organization was established in June 2001 and had six member states.
Highlighting the major goals of the organization, Prof. Pokharel said that it aimed to strengthen mutual trust, friendship and good neighborly relations among the member states.
"It is also focused on consolidating multi-disciplinary cooperation in the maintaining and enhancing peace, security and stability in the region and promoting new democratic, fair and rational political and economic international order," he said.
He added that the organisatyion had been engaged in fighting against illicit narcotics, arms trafficking and other forms of criminal activity of a trans-national character and also illegal migration.
"Besides, the organization also encourages efficient regional cooperation in the spheres of politics, trade, economy, defense, law enforcement, environment protection, culture, science, technology, education, energy, transport, credit, finance and other areas of common interest," he said.
According to him, the SCO aims to facilitate the comprehensive balanced development in the region through joint actions on the basis of equal partnership for the purpose steady increase in the living standard of the people from the member states.
"It concomitantly has adopted a coordinating approach to integrating into the global economy and promotes human rights and fundamental freedom in accordance with the international obligations of the member states and the national legislations," he observed.
He said that the organization also contributed to maintaining and developing relations with other states and international organizations, cooperating in prevention of international conflicts and their peaceful settlement and jointly searching for solutions to the problems that would arise in the 21st century.
Apart from these, the organization has some institutional mechanisms. "It can be speculated that the organization may have come into existence in order prevent the ongoing various terrorist activities and turmoil in the world. Obviously, if China, Russia and various other super powers of the global importance work together, it would have a much desired effect on the countries like Nepal," he said.
Recalling a good amount of aid that Nepal used to receive from the then Soviet Union in terms of human resource development, he said that a number of Nepali experts, particularly in the field of technology, health science and engineering sectors were produced.
He, however, said that such a bond of relationship had been missing somewhere since the last few years. "Therefore, I would like to request the governments of both the countries to revive the age-old relationship for mutual benefit," he said.
He emphasized the need for exploring more avenues of cooperation to contribute to the global peace, stability and regional cooperation. "If the two super powers of the world—China and Russia—sit together for discussion, this will convey the message that they are not engaged in the proliferation of military rivalry," he said.
He called for all to realize the fact that that Russia and China aimed at facilitating regional cooperation, harmonization of interests, exploitation of available resources, etc. "So, the Russia-China cooperation should be seen in a positive light," he said.
Floor Discussion
Following Prof. Alexander Lukin's elaborate presentation, several participant scholars made their queries and observations.
Prakash A Raj asked Prof. Lukin whether there were any prospect of promoting regional cooperation among various regional bodies like SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation), ASEAN (Association for South East Asian Nations) and the SCO.
Responding the query, Prof. Lukin said that the SCO cooperated very actively with various international organizations like United Nations (UN). He further informed that Under Secretary-General of UN had gone to Bishkek to attend the summit, and after that he had come to Nepal. He added that the SCO cooperated with ASEAN, EU and some other organizations as well. "It will also cooperate with SAARC," he said.
M.R. Josse asked why Turkistan was not a member of the SCO. He further inquired whether the formation of the regional body was a competition with the organizations.
Answering his queries, the keynote speaker said that Turkistan was a late leader and because of this position of Turkistan, she was not a member.
To his second query, Prof. Lukin said that it was not a competition. He suggested that the organization should be seen from the point of view of cooperation and friendship.
Prof. Dr. Bishnu Hari Nepal asked Prof. Lukin how the latter had seen the future of balance of power system in terms of multi-polarity concept vs unipolarity concept associating with the security concern of the region.
Responding his query, Prof. Lukin said that balance of power simply was a concept. He further said that multi-polarity was an official position and both Russia and China wanted the world to be multi-polar. Highlighting the importance of multi-polarism, he added that the SCO was formed for promoting additional cooperation among the member states and to work jointly on many issues arising in the region.
He further stated that the SCO would not exclude close cooperation with other countries including NATO and USA.
Prof. M.P. Lohani, asked the Russian scholar how the SCO would emerge in future. He further asked in what way the organization would encompass other countries in the world.
Answering his query, Prof. Lukin said that he could not foresee the future. He, however, assured that the organisation would promote cooperation in a number of the spheres like energy, water, economy, culture and maintaining peace with other countries of the world.
Shanti Mishra suggested that the organization should work in a more effective manner in establishing global peace. She also wanted to know what sort of works the organisation had done in the field of culture.
Accepting her suggestions, Prof. Lukin said that Russia and China had a problem of cultural understanding among their people. He further said that the leaders of both the countries had been striving for settling the cultural issues between the two countries. He also said that realizing the problem, the year 2006 was celebrated as the year of Russia and China, and the year 2007 was being marked as the year of China and Russia. He highlighted that in Russia-China year, more than 200 events of cultural, economic and political importance were held. "Such events have helped in taking the bilateral ties of these countries to a newer height," he said.
Earlier, presenting his welcome address, Mr. Sergey F. Kiselev, Director of the Russian Centre for Science and Culture, recalled a programme on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which was organized on July 20, 2007.
He informed that the programme was attended by the ambassadors of various embassies and consular of the Russian Embassy.
Shedding light on the academic and professional life of Prof. Dr. Lukin, Mr. Kiselev informed that the former was a renowned scholar received his Ph.D. on International Relations from the Moscow University.
According to Mr. Kiselev, the Russian professor has some books, including Three Journeys Through China and The Political Culture of Russian Democrats, to his credit.
At the end of the programme, extending her vote of thanks, Ms. Anjan Shakya, Deputy Executive Director of IFA, said that the bilateral relations between Russia and China had remained cordial.
Highlighting the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as an important regional forum, she said that the forum held enormous potential for member states to enhance ties between and among them.
In 1996, China founded an international alliance known as the "Shanghai Five", which consisted of China, Russia and three Central Asian countries—Tajakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. In 2001, Uzbekistan was invited to join the group as a member and was officially named as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Highlighting the role of the forum, she said that the SCO was focused on battling the terrorist threats emanating from Afghanistan and ensuring regional stability.
She also lauded the SCO for its crucial role in furthering economic and social cooperation among the member countries.
She expressed the view that all the dignitaries present at the talk programme had taken a lot of advantages from the erudite presentation of the resource person Prof. Dr. Alexander Lukin.
She added that the forum was in the interest of Nepal as well.
