Nepal and Australia Reinforce Relations

Nepal and Australia have agreed to deepen cooperation across a range of sectors, including climate resilience, trade, investment, education and migration, during the third meeting of the Nepal-Australia Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) held in Kathmandu on Saturday.

Officials from both countries reviewed the full spectrum of bilateral relations and reaffirmed their commitment to turning existing understandings into concrete outcomes that benefit both nations.

The discussions focused on expanding high-level political engagement and strengthening cooperation in climate resilience, the green economy, water resource management, agricultural research, and Australia’s development partnership with Nepal.

Both sides also explored ways to boost trade, improve air connectivity, promote tourism, attract investment in Nepal’s hydropower sector and establish a formal framework for education and research collaboration.

The meeting also highlighted efforts to strengthen people-to-people ties by leveraging the Nepali diaspora in Australia, improving migration and visa frameworks, and exploring sister-city partnerships.

Nepal and Australia further exchanged views on regional and global developments, human rights, carbon trading, and cooperation in multilateral forums, including reciprocal support for candidacies at the United Nations.

The talks were co-chaired by Nepal’s Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai and Sarah Storey, First Assistant Secretary of the South and Central Asia Division at Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The bilateral consultations followed the inaugural meeting of the Nepal-Australia Trade and Investment Committee under the Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement (TIFA), which was held in Kathmandu on Friday to strengthen economic cooperation.

The Nepal-Australia Bilateral Consultation Mechanism was established in 2017. Its previous meetings were held in Kathmandu in 2018 and Canberra in 2022.