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In Rio, PM talks ties with leaders

KATHMANDU, JUN 22 - Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, currently in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, attending the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, met several world
leaders on the sidelines of the summit on Friday.
Emphasising on strong cultural ties, Bhattarai spoke to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on strengthening bilateral relations through mutual interaction and cooperation, the Nepali Embassy in Brazil said.
The two leaders discussed promotion and development of tourism, with special emphasis on Lumbini, and resumption of direct air connectivity. Sri Lanka also showed interest in investing in Nepal’s hydropower sector.
The PM also held separate meetings with Cuban President Raul Castro and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday.
In his meeting with Castro, the leaders dwelt on matters of mutual cooperation and expressed commitment to strengthen the existing ties, according to the Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS) news agency.
Castro invited Bhattarai to pay an official visit to Cuba and the PM reciprocated, said Lilamani Poudel, the secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office.
In the meeting with Turkish PM Erdogan, issues pertaining to Least Developed Countries (LDC) were discussed and an agreement reached to enhance relationships between the LDCs to get their voices heard in the global community, according to the RSS.
The Turkey government has also shown interest in exploring and enhancing technical, economic and trade relations with Nepal, Bhattarai quoted Erdogan as saying.
On Wednesday, the PM met the President of Peru, Ollanta Humala, where both the leaders explored means of promoting and strengthening cooperation when it came to the mountain agenda.
According to the RSS, Humala proposed an exchange of expert visits between the two countries to increase interaction and encourage pooling of information concerned with issues of mountain conservation.
Posted on: 2012-06-23 08:35

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