Asia and Oceania

Nepal
Last reviewed: 09 September 2009

Country information

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International relations

Nepal's relations with the UK

The UK is highly regarded in Nepal. This is through historical ties, development assistance and long term support for democratic peace in Nepal.

Visits to Nepal

Minouche Shafik, Permanent Secretary, DfID, visited 30 June to 01 July 2009.

Kevan Jones MP, Under Secretary of State and Minister for Veterans, MoD, visited 14-18 April 2009.

Mike Foster MP, Minister for International Development, DfID, visited 30 March-2 April 2009.

The British Group of the Inter Parliamentary Union visited 16-20 February 2009.

Mike Foster MP, Minister for International Development, DfID, visited 24-27 November 2008.

Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, Minister of State, FCO, visited from 18-19 July 2008.

Shahid Malik, DfID Minister, visited from 20-22 June 2008.

Gareth Thomas MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, DfID, visited from 2-4 April 2007.

Dr Kim Howells MP, Minister of State FCO, visited from 25-28 September 2006.

Geoff Hoon MP, Secretary of State for Defence, visited in September 2004.

Gurkhas

Gurkhas have been an integral and extremely important part of the British Army since 1948, and prior to that, of the British India Army and the East India Company Army. They are highly regarded around the world for their bravery and professionalism. The Brigade has a current strength of around 3,300 officers and men made up of two Infantry battalions of the Royal Gurkha Rifles and three specialist units comprising the Queen's Gurkha Signals, Queen's Gurkha Engineers and the Queen's Own Guard Logistic Regiment. The bulk of the Brigade is based in the UK, with one battalion in Brunei.

UK Development Assistance

Nepal is the poorest country in Asia - the average annual income per person is about $470. The 10 year conflict was a major obstacle to development. The backdrop to the conflict is deep-seated poverty, inequality, poor governance and discrimination. Britain is the largest bilateral donor to Nepal. Our assistance to Nepal was £110 million in 2007/8. DfID Minister Mike Foster announced a three year package of support of £172 million when he launched DfID’s Country Action Plan for Nepal during his visit to Nepal in March 2009. We use both sector budget support and support through NGOs and the UN. The overall purpose of our aid is to reduce poverty and social exclusion, establishing a basis for lasting peace. The DfID programme in Nepal has the following priorities:

Support the peace process and help improve security.
Make government more effective and deliver better health and education services.
Help poor people, particularly women, benefit from economic growth.
Help Nepal tackle climate change.

Cultural Relations with the UK

Britain and Nepal retain close cultural links, based on a long history of relations and friendly ties. The British Council has an important role in Nepal promoting the cultural and educational relationship. It is focused on fostering and supporting links between schools in Nepal and the UK as well as links between university departments. It promotes UK education, teaches English and administers large numbers of UK examinations, principally A-levels and IELTS tests. HRH the Princess Royal opened the British Council's new premises in Kathmandu in November 2000. During his visit to Nepal in July 2008, Lord Malloch-Brown opened the British Council’s e-learning facility.