Kathmandu, March 10: From March 4 to 5, Shimada Tomoaki, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs visited Nepal as the head of Japan’s election observer mission.
Shimada, as the head of Japan’s election observer mission for the 3rd Election of the House of Representatives of Nepal on March 5, visited 7 polling stations and a counting center (Note) in Kathmandu. He inspected the voting and counting procedures and received briefing from and exchanged views with officials in charge of the election regarding the operation of polling and counting stations.
On March 4, Shimada paid a courtesy call on President Ramchandra Paudel. At the outset, Shimada expressed his gratitude for President Paudel’s visit to Japan in February, which became a valuable opportunity to further strengthen the friendly relations between the two countries. He also explained that Japan places importance on Nepal’s stable democratization and has decided to dispatch an election observer mission headed by himself, expressing his hope that the election would be conducted in a peaceful manner. Furthermore, referring to the development projects carried out by Japan up to now, Shimada stated that Japan supports Nepal’s efforts to further consolidate democracy and is committed to continuing its cooperation for Nepal’s development. He also requested the President to extend further support to make a grand celebration on the 70th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and Nepal this year.
President Paudel responded that his visit to Japan was a fulfilling one and he was able to have a meaningful exchange during the audience with Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress, as well as the meeting with Prime Minister Takaichi. He also mentioned that Japan is an important development partner for Nepal and expressed his gratitude for the assistance Japan has extended to Nepal up to now. He also stated that he would like to join to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and Nepal in various events.
On March 4, Shimada held a meeting with Ram Prasad Bhandari, Acting Chief Commissioner of Election Commission of Nepal.
People’s News Monitoring Service.
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