Nepal's ambassador to Pakistan Bala Bahadur Kanwal has said,"Nepal is a soveriegn state and we are not under the dominance of India," and he also, once again, rejected the claim of India that the only attacker arrested alive in the Mumbai attacks had been arrested in Kathmandu in 2006 and handed over to the Indian authorities. Kunwar has said that Nepal and Pakistan are enjoying highly cordial relations since long, but there is still a great need of developing strong commercial ties between the two friendly countries.
Addressing the members of Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) chaired by Malik Asrar Ahmed Awan here on Thursday, he said we were making utmost efforts for developing trade and commerce relations with Pakistan on top priority basis. He stressed upon the exporters and manufacturers of Multan to explore Nepali market and concentrate on developing direct interaction with their counterparts.
The Nepalese Ambassador called upon the Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) that a trade delegation should be constituted for the visit of Nepal and full co-operation and assistance would be extended to the members of the proposed delegation during its visit to Nepal.
There were wide opportunities for Pakistani business community for opening new vistas of trade and commerce and their visit to Nepal would certainly be supportive in ascertaining the possibilities of demands of Pakistan products in the market, he said. The ambassador said that a single country trade exhibition would also be arranged for introduction of Pakistan products in Nepal market.
The ambassador expressed the hope that business community of Multan would play its instrumental role in accelerating the pace of bilateral trade between the two friendly countries because the existing trade volume is at its lowest ebb. He said that Pakistan and Nepal had signed a bilateral agreement to enhance Tourism Co-operation that would allow both tourism-rich countries to further bolster ties for the promotion of their potentials.
Under the agreement, both the countries will endeavour to take necessary measures to promote tourism through mutual exchange of tourism information material, as well as experiences concerning tourism promotion, statistics and personnel training. He said that Nepal had immense potential in its tremendous tourism sector.
He said that Pakistan is enriched with its cultural diversity, archaeological heritage, vast deserts, serene valleys, violent rivers etc. The Nepalese ambassador, who fluently spoke Urdu, invited Pakistani tourists to visit Nepal, arguing "you (Pakistanis) would feel there quite at home as you would find every Nepali speaking your language."
In his address of welcome President MCCI Malik Asrar Ahmed Awan assured that business community of Multan would extend its full support in enhancing the trade between the two countries. Despite excellent political relations between the two countries one area, which needs focus on the economic relations. Nepalese ambassador visited the historical place of Harappa (Sahiwal) along with his family. Secretary of MCCI took them to historical places in Multan and othjer parts of southern Punjab.