Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa has given his stamp of approval to the Republic of Nepal for appointing business magnate Dr. Sudhir Ruparelia as their Honorary Consul in Uganda.
“They could not have found a better choice than Dr. Ruparelia. I want to thank you for looking out for a distinguished person and making him your honorary consul in our country. This means that our relations will grow to higher heights because you have an able person who does a lot of good things here,” Kutesa said at a cocktail to celebrate H.E Dr. Sudhir’s appointment, held at Kabira Country Club last evening.
Earlier in the day, Sudhir had presented his credentials to Kutesa, accompanied by Nepalese Ambassador to Egypt Jyabindra Aryal under whose jurisdiction Uganda falls.
“It was a pleasure for me when I got the recommendation from you to appoint him because I have every confidence that he will make our relations greater. Sudhir, has got not only the capacity, the interest, but also the means to strengthen the relationship between our two countries,” Kutesa said.
“The
decision by Nepal and Uganda to establish a consulate is an important step towards establishing a relationship between the two countries,” Dr. Sudhir said.
He added that the consulate, whose office is located at his
Crane Chambers on Kampala Road will act as a bridge to promote trade, share Nepal’s experience in tourism and provide consular services to Nepalese citizens
living in Uganda.
“The office will also make information available for Ugandans who may wish to look to Nepal for trade, tourism, education etc,” Dr. Sudhir said.
Top tourist destination
Hosting the Himalaya Mountain ranges and Mt. Everest the tallest mountain in the world, Nepal is a top tourist destination and Sudhir said Uganda will learn from Nepal’s experience to promote her own tourism industry.
The Nepalese Ambassador to Egypt, Jhabindra, said that having a mission in Uganda has eased access of Nepalese living in Uganda to consular services.
“Our
citizens had to approach Cairo, now they have a mission here to take care of
their interests. What I
expect with this representation and being a sizeable community in Uganda is that Nepal-Uganda relations will be taken to new heights,” he said.
“We have agreed to develop certain mechanisms to
take the existing relations between Uganda and Nepal to newer
heights. And with Dr. Sudhir’s expertise, government and business relations will be taken to newer heights,” Ambassador Jhabindra said.
Jivanth Pangeni the Chief advisor and former President for the Nepal Association in Uganda spoke on behalf of the Nepalese living in Uganda and noted that many of them are employed in Dr. Sudhir’s business empire.
“We are honored to have such a great person as our consul,” he said.
Brave soldiers/peace keepers
Kutesa noted that the Nepalese are brave soldiers. “Nepal is a very interesting country. Although they speak English, they have never been colonized. They produce great soldiers who have fought many wars and have in more than one way contributed to peace and security in the world by contributing their troops to UN peace keeping missions. We have many in Congo, in South Sudan and other African countries,” he noted.
The colourful cocktail was graced by government officials, diplomats and business people. As guests toasted to Dr. Sudhir’s appointment, Nepalese children provided entertainment in form of their cultural dances.