UN Secretary General returns to New York wrapping up his four-day visit

KATHMANDU: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres returned to New York on Wednesday, wrapping up his four-day official visit to Nepal.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka bade farewell to him at the VVIP lounge of the Tribhuvan International Airport.

Along with Deputy Prime Minister Khadka, high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and representatives of the United Nations Office in Nepal were present on the occasion.

A contingent of Nepal Army offered a guard of honor to Guterres in his farewell.

At the cordial invitation of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the UN Secretary General arrived in Kathmandu on October 28.

The UN Chief had separately called on President Ram Chandra Paudel and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’.

Likewise, he held separate meetings with Nepali Congress (NC) President and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN-UML Chair and former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Speaker Devraj Ghimire, national Assembly Chairperson Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, Deputy Prime Minister duo, Khadka and Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Prakash Saud.

In the course of his visit, he reached the Everest region and Annapurna Base Camp, Pokhara and Lumbini.

He also visited historically and archaeologically important Patan Durbar Square in Lalitpur.

PM Dahal had hosted a dinner with a cultural program in honor of the Secretary General.

During this stay, he also addressed the joint session of the Federal Parliament.

Guterres, who came to Nepal for the first time after assuming the post of the UN Secretary General, in 2017 had discussed the issues related to Nepal’s home-grown peace process, climate change and poverty alleviation.

His visit to Nepal has been taken as a highly important diplomatic visit.