The newly appointed Nepal's ambassadors to China and India have expressed commitments to take initiatives for joint collaboration in the sector of environment. 

At an interaction on 'Diplomatic and Environment' organised by the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists here on Sunday, Nepali Ambassador to India, Deep Kumar Upadhyay, and Nepali Ambassador to China, Leela Mani Poudyal, said that they would play roles to prioritise the environmental sector as a means of addressing common interests. 

Saying the 21st century is the century of water, Ambassador Upadhyay stressed that Nepal should come up with a national policy for the proper utilisation of water resources. 

He said that Nepal should take initiatives for the benefits that Nepal could take from India in the environmental sector by utilising its knowledge and experience. 

Similarly, Ambassador Poudyal, said he would make efforts for collaboration with China on the issues of environment including collecting data related to environment, capacity building and common issues. 

He further said he would put forth his views before China to exchange the data about the condition of rivers.

On the occasion, former Minister for Water Resource Deepak Gyawali said India has put its eye on water resource rather than energy for Nepal, so Nepal needs to be alert on this fact. 

NEFEJ General Secretary Ramesh Bhusal presented a working paper on 'Environmental Diplomacy in South Asia and China' on the occasion. RSS