Diplomats come and go but some leave memorable impressions on people lasting for a long time to come. Outgoing British Ambassador to Nepal Richard Morris is among them.

When he was appointed ambassador here, Nepal was facing a great crisis from earthquake and it was just a few months away from the celebration of most important occasion of Nepal-Britain Relations reaching 200 years of establishment of diplomatic ties.

Despite being the largest donor with historical connections for such a long time, Nepal and Britain relations were also at a low. Having such a long history of providing Nepal Army and supporting Nepal's sovereignty and independence, Nepal did not allow British Helicopter Rescue Mission to carry out relief operation in Nepal.

Although Britain was one of the largest development partners of Nepal, some of the programs launched by DFID have create misunderstanding at the government level, particularly the project on transitional justice.

In the three years of his stay in Nepal, ambassador Morris has brought Nepal-Britain relations back on track to a level of warmth as before. Nepal and Britain jointly organised 200 years of establishment of relations, paving the visit of British Prince Harry at the time of crucial need to prove Nepal as a safe place.

Several high level visits resumed since celebration of 200 years. Finally, Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli also paid official visit to United Kingdom renewing the friendship.

As usual, Nepal Britain Society stands together in a mission to further strengthen people to people relations.

Under the leadership of Pratima Pandey, Nepal Birtain Society has shown how an organization works effectively in the presence of accommodating and dynamic leadership.

Taking all board members in the activities, Pandey has turned the Nepal Britain Society into a vibrant organization that Ambassador Morris mentioned during a farewell dinner hosted in his honor.

Ambassador said that Pandey has immensely contributed to enhance and strengthen people to people relations between the two countries.

Remembering his four years tenure and his contributions to strengthen Nepal Britain's relation at all levels, Nepal Britain Society organized farewell dinner in honor of British Ambassador to Nepal Richard Morris and Mrs. Alison Morris in Kathmandu.

At the function attended by large numbers of dignitaries and people from all walks of life, ambassador Morris presented his Charity run in the Everest Marathon. In his slide show, he has shown challenges and difficult adventurous marathon run. His trekking to Dolpa was another milestone.

Although he was involved in countless activities in Nepal during his four years tenure as an ambassador of the United Kingdom to Nepal, ambassador Morris's participation in the Everest Marathon 2019 was the most memorable and adventurous.

Four years ago when he arrived in Nepal to take charge of ambassador of the United Kingdom to Nepal, Britain, and Nepal were celebrating 200 years of establishment of diplomatic relations. Nepal Britain Society organized a grand program welcoming him and celebrating 200 years of events.

“Ambassador has always been a great support to the Nepal Britain Society attending our functions and has given us great encouragement for our activities. The Nepal Britain Society is one of the oldest friendship societies established in 1964 and is nearly 55 years old,” said Pratima Pande, President of Nepal Britain Society. (Full Statement below)

During his tenure ambassador Richard has seen Nepal’s recovery from a devastating earthquake and grim situation with declining tourism. The visit of Prince Harry was a major booster to promote tourism in Nepal.

In presence of ambassador Morris and board members Pande also handed over Rs. 100,000.00 to Wendy Marston’s organizations Burns Violence Survivors-Nepal (BVS-Nepal).

The program was conducted by Sanjeev Kumar Pandey.

Ambassador Richard Morris has always been a great support to the Nepal Britain Society

By Pratima Pande

This evening, I am very happy to welcome all of you as the president of the Nepal Britain Society to this farewell dinner in honor of Ambassador Richard Morris and Mrs. Alison Morris.

His Excellency has resided in Kathmandu for four years and we are sad that both of them are leaving as their tenure comes to an end in November. We all remember welcoming them in the function held at the Yak and Yeti Hotel in 2015.

During his posting, Richard has been a very dynamic Ambassador interacting with the government Nepal, The Nepal Britain Society, British Chamber of Commerce and various other organizations and traveling and trekking in many parts of the country.

He has always been a great support to the Nepal Britain Society attending our functions and has given us great encouragement for our activities. The Nepal Britain Society is one of the oldest friendship societies established in 1964 and is nearly 55 years old.

In 2016, Nepal Britain Society celebrated the 200 years of bilateral relations between our two countries with many activities such as musical programs, A Shakespeare Drama A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream at the British School, Charitable programs, book launch, Art Exhibition, and various other functions. The British government has also generously supported our heritage conservation activities in Nepal.

His Excellency and I along with Rohit Ranjitkar of the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust (KVPT) were privileged to welcome and show His Royal Highness Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex to see the Visheshor Temple and the Patan Durbar Square which he enjoyed touring in March 2016.

Members of the Nepal Britain Society are people, who have studied, lived, worked and enjoy visiting London, UK. Today we have all come together to say goodbye and thank you for a good, kind, friendly and very helpful ambassador.

It has been wonderful knowing Richard and Alison and their family and we will miss them here in Kathmandu. I would like to thank the Trustees and the board members for always helping me in running the many activities of the society. I would like to thank treasurer Jitendra Rajbhandary and a big thanks to Sanjeev Pandey who has been the backbone of the society, always sending out the invitations and emails for all our programs without ever complaining and taking part in our NBS programs with great enthusiasm. Our trustee Madhukar Rana and Mrs. Greta Rana could not attend as they are both unwell. We miss them this evening.

I would also like to thank our wonderful friends and supporter of the Society Sulab Agrawal of Golyan Group, Ashoke Rana-Himalayan Bank Limited, Prithivi Pande-Nepal Investment Bank Limited and Nepal Britain Society for hosting this dinner and the Aloft Hotel and its management Vickram Singh, GM Deependra Singh, the food and beverage director and all the staff of their hard work in arranging tonight’s party.

(Pande is the president of the Nepal Britain Society. Excerpt from her statement delivered at farewell dinner given to British Ambassador to Nepal Richard Morris.)