Israeli Ambassador to Nepal Shmulik Arie Bass met with Minister for Education, Science and Technology Raghuji Pant on Friday to discuss resuming the agriculture internship programme for Nepali students in Israel.

During the discussion, Minister Pant praised Israel’s continued support to Nepal over the years and urged the ambassador to provide updates on the suspended internship programme.

In response, Ambassador Bass highlighted the project’s success. The project, which has been in operation since 2001, has provided over 4,000 Nepali agriculture students with hands-on experience in Israel’s advanced farming sector.

He noted that many returning interns had significantly contributed to Nepal’s agriculture.

However, following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the programme was temporarily halted, and students were barred from travelling to Israel. Ambassador Bass said that continued procedural delays could result in Nepal losing the opportunity to send around 1,000 interns this year.

He requested the Education Ministry to instruct universities to register eligible students on time and help facilitate their travel arrangements to Israel.

The Education Ministry clarified that there is no barrier from the Nepali side to students’ returning to Israel. It also proposed increasing the internship quota next year to compensate for this year’s shortfall.

Citing two favourable assessments—one from Nepal’s ambassador to Israel and another from Israel’s foreign ministry—Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already declared that the security situation in Israel has returned to normal and has allowed the internship programme to resume under regular procedures.

Relevant bodies have been urged to speed up student registration, inform students accordingly, and coordinate with universities to ensure smooth implementation of the programme.