Minister Khanal is going to Mauritius to participate in the 9th Western Indian Ocean Conference to be held in Mauritius on 27 and 28 Chaitra.
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Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal is leaving for Mauritius on Thursday for his first foreign visit. Minister Khanal is going to Mauritius to participate in the ninth Western Indian Ocean Conference to be held in Mauritius on 27 and 28 Chaitra.
The event is being organized by the Delhi-based ‘think tank’ India Foundation in collaboration with the Mauritius government and the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. The main slogan of the ninth edition is ‘Collective Responsibility for Good Governance of the Indian Ocean’.
Lok Bahadur Poudel Chhetri, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, informed that Minister Khanal is going to Mauritius to participate in the conference. Ministers of various countries, including Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, are participating in the program. Minister Khanal will also hold a ‘sideline’ meeting with his Indian counterpart Jaishankar. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that Minister Khanal will also meet leaders from other countries.
Bangladesh Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Wijitha Herath, Bhutanese Foreign Minister DN Dhungel, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Hamad Al Busaidi, Seychelles Foreign Minister Barry Faure and others will also address the conference. Similarly, officials from Cambodia, Egypt, Madagascar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Comoros, Thailand, and the UK will also participate, the organizer India Foundation has mentioned.
India Foundation has been organizing this program since 2016. Nepal has been participating in the conference. The then Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba participated in the eighth conference held in Muscat in February last year.
This program is being organized with the aim of formulating a joint strategy for security and stability, maritime trade, economic cooperation, climate change, and conservation of marine resources in the Indian Ocean region. The India Foundation website states that the conference has become a major forum for discussing mutual issues for the countries of the Indian Ocean region in the past 8 years. The foundation also stated that the conference has been working to bring partners in the region to a common platform to discuss the possibilities of cooperation for regional security and development.
Meanwhile, Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava met Foreign Minister Khanal on Monday. Khanal met his first foreign diplomat 10 days after his appointment as Foreign Minister. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Srivastava paid a courtesy call.
During the meeting, Ambassador Srivastava conveyed a message of congratulations and best wishes to Minister Khanal on behalf of Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. In addition, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Chhetri said that discussions were held on further strengthening mutual relations and cooperation between the two countries.
