Nepal invites PM Modi to attend 1st Sagarmatha Sambaad forum to deliberate on global, regional and national issues

Kathmandu

Nepal has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the first Sagarmatha Sambaad forum to be held here in April to deliberate on the most prominent issues of global, regional and national significance, Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said on Friday.
The first edition of the ‘Sagarmatha Sambaad’ is scheduled to be held from April 2 to 4 on the theme ‘Climate Change, Mountains and the Future of Humanity’, he told a group of visiting Indian reporters.

“We have invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and are awaiting the confirmation,” Gyawali said. He said leaders of all SAARC countries, including Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, had been invited and Nepal would be happy to host all the regional leaders so that they could have discussions amongst themselves on the challenges facing the region.

The Sambaad (dialogue) is named after the world’s tallest mountain Sagarmatha (Mt Everest) which is also a symbol of friendship, Gyawali said. Gyawali said the main objectives of the first edition of the Sambad are to forge a common consensus among countries on the impending climate crisis and encourage political leaders to mobilise their political willpower to tackle its menace.

It also hopes to create awareness among participants and the world about the direct relation that exists between the climate change and mountain ecology. Nepal has the icy peaks of some of the world’s highest mountains. The dialogue would make an effort to promote and demonstrate its resolve to make it a welcoming ground for all stakeholders for impartial, transparent, open discussion and free flow of thoughts and ideas, officials said.