Secretary General BIMSTEC, H.E. Indra Mani Pandey, visited Nepal from 8 to 10 January 2025. During his visit, SG called on Honourable Minister for Foreign Affairs, H.E. Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba, who reiterated Nepal’s firm commitment to BIMSTEC and emphasized the importance of expanding cooperation in areas of high priority to Nepal such as tourism, energy, climate change and connectivity, including air connectivity. SG expressed his appreciation for the role of Nepal in success of BIMSTEC, including the successful 4th  BIMSTEC Summit, held in Kathmandu, in 2018. SG also commended the Government of Nepal for its leadership in fostering regional cooperation in people-to people contacts Sector, through tourism, culture, visa matters as well as the sub-sector of poverty alleviation.

SG also called on Honourable Minister for Industry, Commerce, and Supplies H.E. Mr. Damodar Bhandari. They discussed the present state of cooperation in trade, investment and development sector as well as regional connectivity. In a separate call-on Honourable Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, H.E. Badri Pandey, the two sides discussed the opportunities for regional cooperation in areas such as tourism and culture and the need for enhancing connectivity to realise these goals within the BIMSTEC framework.

SG called also on Foreign Secretary, H.E. Mr. Amrit Bahadur Rai, and reviewed with him the entire gamut of Nepal’s role and future contribution in success of BIMSTEC. He also called on Secretary for Culture Tourism and Civil Aviation, H.E. Mr. Ganesh Prasad Pandeya, and discussed with Nepal’s priorities for and role in expanding cooperation through BIMSTEC in the areas of culture, tourism and visa cooperation.

During his visit, SG participated in interactive dialogue on BIMSTEC organised by Policy Research Institute (PRI) and Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement (NIICE), where he shared his insights on regional cooperation and BIMSTEC's achievements, goals and challenges. He was interviewed by ‘The Kathmandu Post’, with focus on the state of regional cooperation within BIMSTEC and its future.

This was SG’s second visit to Nepal; he had paid his introductory visit to Nepal in May 2024, reaffirming the importance of Nepal in deepening and expanding regional cooperation through BIMSTEC.

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