KATHMANDU, March 20: The British Council has completed 60 years of its operation in Nepal.

“Sixty years ago, the British Council was established in Nepal with the first British library, to build friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of Nepal and the UK,” it said in a statement. “Sixty years later, we have touched millions of lives through working with people and institutions from the education, language, skills, arts and youth sectors in Nepal -- working to build trust between the people of Nepal and the people of the UK.”

Nepal and the UK have a rich and complex relationship that dates back over 200 years, when Nepal chose the UK as the first country with which to establish diplomatic relations, it said. “This relationship is built upon the active and positive contributions of Nepalis in both the UK and in Nepal.”

According to the Council, the first Nepali widely considered to set foot in the UK was Nepal's Prime Minister Jang Bahadur Rana, who visited Britain and France in 1850, and who met Queen Victoria. There is also the visit of the Nepali soldier Motilal Singh, who wrote in the July 1850 edition of the New Monthly Magazine the article, 'Some Accounts of Nepalese in London', it said.

“It is the latter and the transition to federalism that we look forward to, supporting the Government of Nepal and its peoples with technical assistance and cultural relations programs as it navigates this historic process,” it added.

 
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