Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Badri Pandey sought effective strong cooperation from the neighbouring countries for the operation of the Pokhara and Gautam Buddha international airports, both newly built two aviation infrastructure in Nepal.

"For the effective operation of these two airports, Nepal expects strong support from all of you and especially from the neighbouring countries," he said while addressing the opening session of the second ministerial-level conference of the Asia Pacific region of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) which began in New Delhi, India, on Wednesday.

Minister Pandey said that Nepal's international airports have already been certified and the country expected regional support to operate the Pokhara and Gautam Buddha international airports effectively. "This will also show our commitment to the continuous improvement of our civil aviation sector," he said.

He strongly urged the ICAO and member countries to establish an aviation research and training centre in Nepal and said that Nepal was ready to facilitate its creation.

Stating that Nepal is committed to capacity building for air safety and that Nepal has achieved the highest achievement in the implementation of ICAO's Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) by the year 2022, Minister Pandey informed the regional members that Nepal has successfully integrated the main principles of the Global Aviation Safety Plan into the National Safety Plan.

"As a signatory country of the Chicago Convention, we have accepted the principles of that convention and have initiated a process to formulate a new law for the establishment of a permanent body to conduct an independent investigation into the aviation sector accidents," he said.

According to him, Nepal's unique nature, topography and geography offer a great potential for research and discovery in the field of aviation. A regional research and training centre can be established in Nepal, and member countries can work together to promote good efforts in Air Navigation Services (ANS) related to search and rescue, meteorological services and air traffic flow management.

Mentioning that safe and flexible aviation infrastructures are basic component for the improvement of the aviation sector, Minister Pandey said, "To strengthen the aviation security of this region, additional cooperation and collaboration is needed among the ICAO member countries," he said. Minister Pandey left for India on Tuesday to attend the ICAO Ministerial Conference.