It is my honor and pleasure to congratulate you on this event marking the establishment of Diplomatic relations between Nepal and Israel. Due to Covid restrictions, we had to change the date of this jubilee ceremony but the importance of it never faded away.

Let me remind us about the year: In 1960 both our countries were young: Israel as a young nation that just got its independence 12 years earlier and Nepal, a young democracy that just voted a year earlier for its first democratically elected Prime Minister.

Our two leaders, BP Koirala and David Ben Gurion, jointly declared this event and established the relations. Nepal was the first, and for thirty years, the only country from South Asia to have full diplomatic relations with the State of Israel.

Israel will never forget this and will always remember its good friends and the long history of good bilateral relations.

Israel and Nepal share the same values of tolerance and democracy. We also share the pride of our homeland and cherish the diversity in our communities. At the same time, we, Nepalese and Israelis, share the desire of our nationals to work or to visit in the other country. Yes, there is one case where we perform the two extremes apart: While you have the highest point on our planet, we have the lowest place on Earth. Mount Everest – Sagarmatha in Nepali, and the Dead Sea – Yam Hamelach in Hebrew, represent two extremes but for many years, they are linked together and represent the close relations that we have.

During these 62 years of relations, we saw excellent cooperation on different fields: From agriculture to health and from tourism to care givers. Israel was also the first to respond during the devastating earthquake in 2015 and sent planes full with medical cargo and 300 Doctors and medical teams to establish a field hospital in Kathmandu. This friendship between our nations will always continue!

The world is facing now days dramatic changes. Israel will continue to extend a hand to all its neighbors as well as to far nations and share our knowledge and Israeli advanced technological innovations. Nepal was and will always be a country that we will be proud to continue our cooperation and close links of all levels.

Let me wish you again a happy anniversary and a joyful event.

Goder is the ambassador of Israel to Nepal. Excerpts of the statement delivered on the occasion of 62nd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Nepal and Israel on May 10, 2022.