Prime Minister Dahal leaves for Uganda to participate in 19th summit of NAM

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has left for Uganda, leading a delegation to participate in the 19th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Dahal embarked on his journey early this morning via Qatar Airlines.

The NAM summit is scheduled to take place in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, on January 19 and 20. The delegation led by Dahal includes Foreign Minister Narayan Prakash Saud, Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal, and other senior officials from the Nepalese government. The prime minister is accompanied by his daughter Ganga Dahal.

Prime Minister Dahal is slated to deliver a speech at the summit, which will be held under the theme, 'Deepening global cooperation for shared global affluence', on Friday. He will also attend a special ceremony that will be organised by the President of Uganda in honour of the heads of the visiting delegations.

During the summit, the Prime Minister will hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the countries in attendance. Foreign Minister Saud has already been to Uganda for the ministerial meeting in the run up to the main event of the NAM summit.

The 19th summit is expected to focus on the ministerial report, review the implementation status of the 18th NAM summit, and pass a declaration in Kampala.

Nepal, as a founding member of NAM, has been actively participating in the NAM summit since its inception. Non-alignment is one of the fundamental principles of Nepal's foreign policy. The NAM was established in 1961.

PM Dahal is scheduled to return home on January 21.

Meanwhile, President Ramchandra Paudel has assigned Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka to work as Acting Prime Minister during the absence of PM Dahal in office.