KATHMANDU, Dec 16: With just one month left for the 23rd Interpol Regional Conference, Nepal Police has intensified its preparation to hold meeting in Kathmandu from January 18-20. The mega event, which is being hosted by Nepal after 27 years, brings together top cops and few ministers from 53 countries across Asia and the South Pacific region to Kathmandu. Interpol’s President Meng Hongwei has confirmed his participation in the event. The 85th session of Interpol’s general assembly held in Bali in November 2016 had elected Meng, a Chinese national, to serve as its president until 2020.
According to National Central Bureau (NCB), Kathmandu, senior law enforcement officials from 51 countries would join the mega event to devise strategies to reinforce regional efforts against transnational crimes.
“Invitation has been sent, hotel booking has started, program venues have been confirmed, respective committees on management of finance, security, media, recreation have been working on war footing,” said DSP Basundhara Khadka, who heads the NCB-Nepal section of Nepal Police.
Nepal Police to host Interpol conference after 27 years
A committee under the coordination of AIG Bigyan Raj Sharma, as per the rules and guidelines of Interpol, has also been working on transnational crimes such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, ATM frauds, e-gambling, wildlife among others, to share the problems faced by Nepal. The delegates will also focus on terrorism, cyber crime, financial crimes, environmental security, and counterfeit currencies.
NCB Kathmandu officials also informed that there are chances of sideline bilateral meetings to find solutions to the common issues and some long pending files might be opened.
Nepal police has made arrangement for accommodating 200 delegates including their spouses.
More than 200 delegates, including ministers, inspector generals, observers and other high-level government officials are to participate in the conference to share their experiences on law enforcement and to deal with the common problems in the region.
“Interpol’s observation teams have already visited Nepal two times and they are satisfied with our preparations,” DSP Khadka said. NCB Kathmandu expects the final confirmation from the participants by December 20. The participants have to cover the cost of their accommodation and travels, while the food and other logistics would be served by the government of Nepal.
Nepal Police had last hosted a similar conference during the Panchayat regime in 1989 when the then IGP Hem Bahadur Singh had headed the institution.
Interpol enables police in 190 member countries to work together to fight international crimes by providing range of policing, expertise and capabilities.
