Yukia Amano, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held a bilateral meeting with the Government of Nepal. Foreign Secretary, Shanker Das Bairagi led the Nepali delegation.

During the meeting, both sides reviewed the cooperation between IAEA and Nepal since the latter joined the Agency in 2008. The meeting also discussed potential future cooperation in the areas of health, agriculture and livestock, non-destructive testing to verify integrity of key infrastructure and cultural heritage sites, education and research, human resource development and capacity building, equipment and technology transfer, nuclear safety, regulatory framework and further strengthening of safeguard regime.

While welcoming the Director-General on his first visit to Nepal, Foreign Secretary Bairagi reiterated the commitment of Nepal for complete disarmament and use of nuclear science technology for socio-economic development in the country. He expressed appreciation to IAEA for its support and technical cooperation and equipment provided to Nepali institutions such as the BP Memorial Cancer Hospital and training opportunities to Nepali officials for capacity building.

The Director-General expressed his willingness to further strengthen cooperation to Nepal and underlined the need for making national nuclear law for ensuring safeguards in the use of nuclear technology. He agreed to provide more training opportunities to enhance national capacity of Nepali institutions. He highlighted the ongoing efforts of IAEA towards achieving sustainable development through the increased use of nuclear technology in developing countries. During the meeting, representatives of various Ministries also shared their views in their respective fields of cooperation with IAEA.

Nepali delegation comprised of senior officials from Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Science and Technology, Agricultural Development, Finance, Law and Justice, Health and Livestock Development and related agencies including National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), National Agricultural Research Council and the BP Memorial Cancer Hospital.

Earlier, the Director-General had paid courtesy calls separately to the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Urban Development yesterday. During the meetings matters of mutual interest were discussed. He visited the project sites of Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) located at the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, Babar Mahal and the National Agriculture Research Council. The Director General is scheduled to visit BP Memorial Cancer Hospital, Bharatpur to which IAEA has provided equipment for cancer treatment today.