UN Secretary General Guterres visiting Everest region today

KATHMANDU: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who is currently on an official visit to Nepal, is scheduled to visit Sagarmatha (Everest) region today. After that he will leave for Pokhara in the afternoon.

The UN high official will leave for the Everest region on a Nepali Army helicopter depending on the weather and he will converse with the locals on topics related to how climate change has affected their daily lives, it has been learnt.

After returning from the Everest region, the Secretary General will hold a meeting with the UN team in Nepal at the UN House in Lalitpur, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated. Following this, he will leave for Pokhara in the afternoon.

Secretary General Guterres is accompanied by Under Secretary General for Peace Operations, Jean Pierre Lacroix, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations to Nepal Hanaa Singer-Hamdy and other officials from the UN Headquarters in New York and the United Nations country team in Nepal.

The UN dignitary arrived in Kathmandu on a four-day official visit at 1 am on Sunday at the invitation of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

On the first day of his visit on Sunday, Secretary General Guterres called on President Ram Chandra Paudel at Sheetal Niwas and exchanged views on matters of long-standing partnership between Nepal and the United Nations.

Earlier the same day, the Secretary General had a meeting with Prime Minister Dahal at his office in Singh Durbar. Following the meeting, the Prime Minister and the Secretary General briefly addressed the media.

Secretary General Guterres also held a meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives Devraj Ghimire in the afternoon on Sunday. Matters relating to Nepal-UN relations were featured during the discussion.

Earlier the same day, the Secretary General held separate meetings with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Purna Bahadur Khadka, and Minister for Foreign Affairs N P Saud in Singh Durbar. Various aspects of Nepal-UN relations and co-operations were discussed during the meetings.

Secretary General Guterres also held separate meetings with former Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and former Prime Minister and leader of the main opposition Party in the House of Representatives, KP Sharma Oli on Sunday afternoon.

The Secretary General also visited Patan Durbar Square, the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Later in the evening, Prime Minister Dahal hosted an official banquet in honor of the Secretary General of the United Nations Guterres and his delegation.

In the course of the visit, the UN Secretary General will also be going to the Annapurna Base Camp and Lumbini.

He is also scheduled to address the joint sitting of the Federal Parliament on October 31, Tuesday, according to the Federal Parliament Secretariat.

Secretary General Guterres will leave Kathmandu on November 1, wrapping up his visit to Nepal.