On December 5, the first round of the Silk Spice Road Dialogues convened in Beijing at the UNDP China office with the UNDP, Center for China and Globalisation (CCG) and Himalayan Consensus as co-hosts. The Silk Spice Road Dialogues were established as a UNDP- Himalayan Consensus initiative to promote policy dialogue among nations of the Belt and Road (BNR) in the interest of enhancing collaborative synergies initiated during the Himalayan Consensus Summit 2017 by Ambassador Sun Yuxi of China; and Professor Mahendra Lama, Member of Eminent Persons Group from India on Nepal-India relations.
At the Himalayan Consensus Summit (HCS) 2018, the idea further evolved to include a consortium of regional think tanks that could engage in open discourse on issues through policy dialogues making recommendations to respective governments. The decision at HCS 2018 was to focus on China-India relationship with emphasis on shared environmental concerns and development of technology collaboration.
The dialogue convened in Beijing had representatives discussing issues concerning the Himalayan region- shared water resources and environmental concerns; disaster management; community empowerment through innovative technologies and financial solutions; along with highlighting the need for greater coexistence and confidence building.
With the opening by Nicholas Rosellini, Resident Coordinator at UN China, Wang Huiyao, President of CCG and keynote address by Nirupama Rao, former Indian Foreign Secretary and Ambassador, the dialogue had two round table discussions which were respectively chaired by Huiyao and Sujeev Shakya, Founder and Chairperson of Nepal Economic Forum and Secretary General at Himalayan Consensus and Laurence Brahm, Founding Director of Himalayan Consensus.
