India’s Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Friday called on Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and discussed willingness to deepen ties in areas of clean energy, biodiversity conservation and protecting our natural resources.

Yadav, who was here to participate in the ‘Sagarmatha Sambaad’ (Mountain Dialogue) themed on ‘Climate Change, Mountains and the Future of Humanity’, also met Nepal’s Foreign Minister Arzju Rana Deuba and his Nepali counterpart Ain Bahadur Shahi Thakuri on the sidelines of the event.

During his meeting with Oli at PM’s official residence at Baluwatar, Yadav thanked the prime minister for inviting him to the mountain dialogue, and expressed that global attention should be drawn towards protection of Mount Everest, according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s secretariat.

“Communicated India’s appreciation for organising Sagarmatha Sambaad to discuss ‘Climate Change, Mountains and the Future of Humanity’. Both sides showed willingness to deepen ties in areas of clean energy, biodiversity conservation and protecting our natural resources,” Yadav posted on X after the meeting.

He also expressed “gratitude for the wonderful Nepalese hospitality.”

Prime Minister Oli proposed to organise a regional conference involving Nepal, India and Bangladesh to discuss issues related to protection of the mountain and the impact of carbon emission on the environment, the statement from his office said.

Yadav also met Nepal’s Forest and Environment Minister Ain Bahadur Shahi Thakur, after which he posted on X: “We held very fruitful discussions on a range of issues including energy partnership between our two sides, working together as partners in the International Big Cat Alliance, and biodiversity conservation with a focus on tiger conservation.”

“We also discussed possibilities of cooperation on fighting forest fires in the mountainous terrains,” he added.

During his meeting with Foreign Minister Deuba, the two leaders touched matters relating to exchange of mutual interest and cooperation besides discussing various dimensions of bilateral relations between Nepal and India, a statement from her office said.

“We took stock of the gamut of deep-rooted Nepal-India ties. Given India’s role as a climate leader, we value H E Yadav’s important perspective at the Sagarmatha Sambaad,” Deuba wrote on social media after the meeting.

Yadav too took to X to say, “We spoke at length about deepening our partnership for a climate resilient and sustainable future, by focusing on clean energy, biodiversity conservation and arresting land degradation.”

Nepal’s Foreign Minister’s secretariat said, the two leaders also discussed matters relating to moving forward through forging collaboration between the two countries in minimising impacts of climate change as the issue is common concern for both the countries.

Source: Daily Excelsior