Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the Nepali delegation to the 70th session of the UNGA Prakash Man Singh addressed a high-level round table on South-South Cooperation jointly organised on the sidelines by the People’s Republic of China and the United Nations.

The roundtable, on the theme “Strengthening South-South Cooperation in the Framework of Post-2015 Development Agenda”, was chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping and was attended by heads of states/governments of the South as well as Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General.

Delivering his remarks, Singh shared his confidence that promoting the spirit of South-South Cooperation and strengthening the work of the global South would contribute to the effective implementation of the newly adopted 2030 agenda. He further said that South-South Cooperation which symbolises solidarity, partnership and cooperation among the developing and the least developed countries needed to be advanced further to mobilise resources and explore appropriate policy and institutional framework to give impetus to the South-South Cooperation.

Similarly, Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, minister for foreign affairs, participated in an interactive dialogue on the theme “Delivering on a Revitalized Global Partnership”, held as part of the summit for the adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Pandey said that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was based on the vision of revitalised global partnership, for which relentless efforts should be undertaken to re-energise all available partnerships

and use them efficiently and innovatively to ensure that “no one is left behind”.

On the sidelines of the 70th UNGA, Singh earlier held a meeting with Tshering Tobgay, prime minister of Bhutan. During the meeting, both sides exchanged views on cooperation especially in the areas of trade and tourism for mutual benefit. Given the common geographic and cultural setting of Nepal and Bhutan, the two leaders highlighted the need for further expanding and diversifying the relations in various areas.

Pandey also attended a reception hosted by Jacob G Zuma, president of the Republic of South Africa, on the occasion of the celebration of South Africa’s chairmanship of the G77 and China on Saturday evening.