Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Narayan Khadka will visit Indonesia this week, officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said.
During the visit, Khadka will participate in the 15th Bali Democracy Forum titled "Democracy in a Changing World Leadership and Solidarity" to be held in Bali on Thursday, December 8. The minister is scheduled to address the forum.
An official at the MoFA said that the preparations for the minister's visit are underway. "However, the visit is yet to be endorsed by the Council of Ministers," he told Nepalkhabar on Sunday.
As per the itinerary, the minister will leave Kathmandu for Indonesia on Tuesday evening. Joint Secretary Lok Bahadur Thapa, who heads North-East Division at the ministry, and Shivani Basnet, undersecretary at the minister's secretariat, will accompany the minister.
The minister participated virtually in the same forum last year. Indonesia hosts the BDF annually which was established in 2008 with an aim "To create a progressive democratic architecture in the Asia-Pacific region."
"In the past decades, the Forum facilitated dialogues through sharing experiences and best practices in managing diversity that encourages equality, mutual understanding and respect. Throughout the years, this has become the foundation of the Forum," the BDF said on its official website.
In doing so, the BDF has also been active in advocating the principles of democracy – namely that it must be grown and developed based on internal initiatives (home-grown); that it upholds the values of pluralism and diversity; and that it must be inclusive. Over the years, the BDF has succeeded in making democracy a strategic agenda in the Asia-Pacific, the organization has claimed.
"It has encouraged countries to establish a balance between economic and political development, between creating peace and security, and promoting human rights and fundamental freedom as well as respecting humanitarian values. All of which are reflected in the three founding pillars of the United Nations Charter," BDF further states on its portal.
The BDF stated that various themes that were discussed in the previous conferences resulted in new ideas being further promulgated and shared amongst countries. "Over a decade, the BDF is expected to continue contributing to the region’s peace and stability, to the promotion of human rights, and especially to further encourage the healthy balance between economic growth and political development," the BDF said on its website.
