Staff Correspondent

Ambassador of Nepal to Bangladesh Ghanshyam Bhandari on Tuesday expressed hope that the two countries would soon be able to start energy trading.

The envoy expressed optimism about the issue when the former paid a courtesy call on Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus at the state guesthouse Jamuna in Dhaka.

During the meeting, he briefed the chief adviser on Nepal's vast hydropower potential.

Ambassador Bhandari expressed gratitude for the Bangladesh government's generous offer to Nepal to use the Chattogram and Mongla ports.

He congratulated the chief adviser on taking over the leadership of the interim government after a historic student-led mass uprising in July-August.

The ambassador said the two South Asian nations are members of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) and BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation), and both countries have "excellent" bilateral relations based on shared history and very deep people-to-people interactions.

He said the economic engagement between the two countries is still at a modest level.

He also expressed appreciation to the Bangladesh government for hosting a significant number of Nepali students, especially in medical education. "Many doctors of Nepal were educated in Bangladesh."

In the meeting, the chief adviser enquired about the activities of the SAARC, which did not have any summit after 2014.

The headquarters of the SAARC is based in the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu.

Ambassador Bhandari highlighted the importance of strengthening regional cooperation through SAARC and BIMSTEC and working closely at various multilateral forums.