KATHMANDU, July 30: A one-day Nepal-India Think Tank Summit is being held in Kathmandu on Tuesday with the objective of improving bilateral relations between Nepal and India through multi-faceted collaboration among think-tanks in both the countries.
The summit, which is being organized jointly by the Asian Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs (AIDIA) and Nehru Memorial Museum Library (NMML), will be attended by think tanks, policy makers, diplomats, academicians, businesspersons, journalists and government officials from both Nepal and India.
“The main objective of the summit is to explore the role of think-tanks in both the countries in shaping Indo-Nepal relations. This also aims at encouraging active collaboration on research, publication, information sharing and joint events between the participating think-tanks,” said Chief Executive Officer of AIDIA Sunil KC.
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The summit is also expected to identify the most pressing policy challenges and bilateral issues between Nepal and India in the current scenario and the ways to tackle them for promoting mutually inclusive bilateral relations. The summit is proposed to become an annual feature for the participating organizations and will be hosted alternatively each year in Nepal and India, the organizers said.
The summit is scheduled to be inaugurated and addressed by Chairman of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
National General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Director of India Foundation, Sri Ram Madhav; Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri; Director of NMML, Shakti Sinha and AIDIA CEO KC will give speeches in the opening session.
The summit will have three different sessions each with different themes. While the first session will deal with building innovative cooperation between Indo-Nepal think tanks, the second session will deal with bolstering bilateral economic ties for the shared prosperity between the two countries. The third session is based on the theme of managing security concerns in the face of new geopolitical reality.
The think-tanks and other organizations participating in the summit include Nepal Council of World Affairs, Confederation of Nepalese Industries, Nepal Economic Forum, Institute for Integrated Development Studies, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, Observer Research Foundations, Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, Vivekananda International Foundation, Nepal Institute for Strategic Studies, Centre for International Security, Gateway House, Brookings India, and Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies.
