The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is preparing to review Nepal’s foreign policy document unveiled in December, 2020.

Talking to reporters at the ministry on Wednesday, Minister for Foreign Affairs Bimala Rai Paudyal said that after consultations inside the ministry and with major political parties, the policy will be updated and published for wider use.

The then KP Sharma Oli government in 2020 had unveiled the 31-page document that encompasses various issues and matters related to Nepal’s foreign policy and international relations. The document stated that Nepal conducts its foreign policy within the parameters set by its constitution, prevailing laws, national security policy and the principles directly related to foreign policy, sectoral policies, periodic plans and the United Nations charter.

The document said that Nepal will expand and conduct its foreign relations with immediate neighbours and other friendly nations based on sovereign equality, mutual respect and benefit.

The hallmark of Nepal’s foreign policy would be securing national interests by deepening mutual respect and cooperation with all friendly nations, protecting the country's international borders and seeking peaceful diplomatic means and negotiations in order to settle boundary issues based on treaties, agreements, evidence, facts and historical documents.

In other points, Nepal would not allow its land to be used against its neighbours and other nations and expects similar commitments and cooperation from others.

“We will reflect on the document,” the foreign minister added. “Once we complete the review, we will publish and print it for wider use,” she said.

Minister Paudyal, who is embarking on her first foreign visit to Sri Lanka on Thursday after assuming the office on January 17, will attend the 75th Independence Day functions as an honoured guest in Colombo on 3-4 February.

In the Sri Lankan Capital, Paudyal is scheduled to meet her counterpart and attend the cultural festival ‘LankaraLanka’ to be organised by the Presidential Secretariat at Independence Square. She will also attend the 75th Independence Day Celebration functions to be organised at Galle Face Green, pay courtesy calls on the president and the prime minister of Sri Lanka, and attend the reception hosted by the president, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In Colombo, Paudyal is planning to meet some of her South Asian counterparts and discuss the agenda of activating the stalled SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) process.

“Though my visit is bilateral, during my personal meetings and engagements with my counterparts from the region, I will definitely take up the matter,” Paudyal said. “The SAARC process stalled and the regional bloc stagnated. Nepal, as the current chair of SAARC, feels the pressure to take steps to revive the stalled SAARC process.”

The 19th SAARC Summit that should have been held in Pakistan in 2016 could not happen after India declined to attend the summit in Islamabad accusing the host of promoting terrorism. Other SAARC-related engagements including several ministerial meetings have been affected.