Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha is leaving for Iran on June 22, leading a Nepali delegation to the 19th meeting of the foreign ministers of the member states of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue.

The event is scheduled to be held on June 24 in Tehran.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Shrestha is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of the ACD member states on the sidelines of the event.

Ahead of the ministerial meeting, Gyan Bahadur Magar, joint secretary at the ministry’s Regional Organisations Division, will attend the ACD Senior Officials Meeting on June 23.

Minister Shrestha will return home on June 26.

Asia Cooperation Dialogue was established in 2002. Thirty-five countries of Asia are its members that include all members of some regional groupings such as BIMSTEC, ASEAN, GCC, SCO, and SAARC except Maldives.

Thailand hosted the 14th ministerial meeting in Bangkok in March 2016 which approved Nepal’s membership and welcomed Nepal as its 34th member. Since then Nepal has been participating in the activities of the ACD.