Nepalese Prime Minister Dr Baburam Bhattarai has urged US Department of State Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy R Sherman to seriously think over repatriation of exiled Bhutanese, Thursday.
During a profiled meeting with the visiting US diplomat in Kathmandu, the Prime Minister has mentioned that his government was thankful for America for accepting thousands of Bhutanese citizens for resettlement but has been expecting serious exercise from the US government on repatriating exiled Bhutanese, Parsuram Kaphle wrote in one of the dailies published from Kathmandu today.
PM Bhattarai has informed Sherman that involvement of the United States of America and India could bring significant effect in materializing repatriation of Bhutuanese citizens from UN-monitored camps in Nepal, said the report.
According to a press note issued by the PM’s office after the meeting, the visiting US top diplomat also made enquiries about the future course of Nepal’s foreign policy. To this the PM responded, “Traditionally, Nepal was taken as a buffer state between India and China. But now onwards it will transform into a vibrant bridge between these two emerging powers.”
Meanwhile, the US diplomat has also requested Nepal to start registering Tibetan refugees. The Nepalese PM was quoted as saying that Nepal has been treating all refugees based on international norms and principles.
“We want better relations with not only India and China but also with the United States. Our relations with India, China and the US will depend on international power balance,” the PM said.
This is the first high-level visit from the United States in a decade. In 2002, the then Secretary of State Colin Powel had visited Nepal, reported the Kathmandu Post.
