Sister city relations between Washington State and Gandaki Province proposed

Published On: November 17, 2019 06:50 PM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

Photo: Gandaki Province CM secretariat

KATHMANDU, Nov 17: Chief Minister of Gandaki Province Prithvi Subba Gurung has proposed to establish sister-city relations between Washington State of the United States and Nepal's Gandaki Province.

Gurung made the proposal at a meeting with Washington State Governor Jay Inslee held in his office based in Washington State, according to a press release issued by the Chief Minister's secretariat.

"There are many commonalities between the Washington State and our province. Hence, I made a proposal to establish sister-city relations. The governor took my proposal positively," Gurung told Republica Online on Sunday after coming back from his visit to the United States.

Gurung said that the two places are endowed by natural resources such as mountains, lakes, and peaks.

"The two places are predominantly agriculture-based economies," he said adding that they can explore areas of cooperation in multiple fields in the coming days including hydropower, foreign investment, tourism, horticulture, infrastructure development, solar energy and among others.

Among other things in common between the two places, Rhododendron is their state flowers. "We can also enhance people-to-people contacts between the two places through cultural exchange," Gurung said.

On the occasion, CM Gurung also extended the invitation to the Washington State governor. "I would consider visiting Nepal sometimes next year. Nepal has been in my wish list, my family love mountains and I do care for those glaciers to exist even for our future generations”, he said.

“It is my dream to visit Nepal,” the governor said adding “I always give examples of saving those mountains in Nepal and their natural surroundings from global warming."

Gurung visited the United States at the invitation of the US Department of Justice, according to Rajendra Ghimire, the attorney general of Gandaki Province who accompanied Gurung in course of the visit.

During the meeting, officials at the US Department of Justice enquired about the law-making process for the provincial police in Gandaki Province, according to Gurung. "We told them that we can share each other's experiences regarding the law-making process," he said.