"Dahal to ask Ban to head int'l committee on Lumbini" :: myrepublica.com
KATHMANDU, Nov 4: UCPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said he is to propose to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to head the International Committee for Development of Lumbini, during his imminent New York visit.
Dahal, who is also chairman of the government-formed National Directive Committee on Broader Lumbini Development, said he made his plan with a view to garner international support for developing Lumbini as a ´World Peace City´.
"A national-level committee for the development of Lumbini has already been formed and we will talk directly to UN headquarters to form an international committee for the purpose," Dahal told Republica at his residence at Nayabazar, Wednesday. "I believe the international committee should as far as possible be headed by the UN secretary-general because that will be very good also for garnering international support for the development of Lumbini."
Dahal, who is scheduled to leave for New York Saturday at the head of a delegation of the National Directive Committee on Broader Lumbini Development, said he is for proposing the UN secretary-general to head the international committee and that he wants to be joint-coordinator of the body.
Preparation is underway to convene a grand function in Lumbini in the presence of Ban, after the formation of the international committee.
According to Dahal, the proposed international committee proposed to be headed by Ban will concentrate its efforts on garnering and mobilizing international resources and support to develop Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Gautam Buddha, as a World Peace City.
"Gautam Buddha is revered as a symbol of peace across the world and we want to develop Lumbini as a center for settling conflicts and disputes taking place in any part of the globe," said Dahal. "Lumbini should be an international center and we are going to New York to create ground for that."
Dahal planned to go to UN headquarters after a plan to invest US$ three billion through a Chinese non-government organization -- Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF) -- for Lumbini development was dragged into controversy. Dahal is co-chairman of APECF.
APECF officials are for winning the confidence of New Delhi with the help of UN headquarters, as Indian officials had smelt a rat in APECF´s plan to make a huge investment in Lumbini that lies in Nepal near the Indian border.
According to UN officials in Beijing, APECF officials called on Ban in New York a month ago and discussed Dahal´s upcoming visit and APECF´s project for Lumbini.
Xiao Wunan, executive vice-chairman of APECF, had earlier claimed that he had talked to Ban during the latter´s visit to Australia two months before and found the UN very positive toward the development of Lumbini.
Dahal said that as head of the government-formed committee, he would propose the UN secretary-general to head the international committee, on behalf of the government but not as APECF´s co-chairman. "This time I am going to New York on behalf of the government, not in the capacity of APECF co-chairman," Dahal clarified. He, however, was quick to add that APECF will be incorporated in the broader project of Lumbini development once the UN heads the project.
I want to meet Obama
Meantime, officials have started initiatives to arrange meetings for the Maoist chairman with US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Officials said Dahal is for a meeting with President Obama himself.
[[.. Read more at "Dahal to ask Ban to head int'l committee on Lumbini" :: myrepublica.com ..]]
Dahal, who is also chairman of the government-formed National Directive Committee on Broader Lumbini Development, said he made his plan with a view to garner international support for developing Lumbini as a ´World Peace City´.
"A national-level committee for the development of Lumbini has already been formed and we will talk directly to UN headquarters to form an international committee for the purpose," Dahal told Republica at his residence at Nayabazar, Wednesday. "I believe the international committee should as far as possible be headed by the UN secretary-general because that will be very good also for garnering international support for the development of Lumbini."
Dahal, who is scheduled to leave for New York Saturday at the head of a delegation of the National Directive Committee on Broader Lumbini Development, said he is for proposing the UN secretary-general to head the international committee and that he wants to be joint-coordinator of the body.
Preparation is underway to convene a grand function in Lumbini in the presence of Ban, after the formation of the international committee.
According to Dahal, the proposed international committee proposed to be headed by Ban will concentrate its efforts on garnering and mobilizing international resources and support to develop Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Gautam Buddha, as a World Peace City.
"Gautam Buddha is revered as a symbol of peace across the world and we want to develop Lumbini as a center for settling conflicts and disputes taking place in any part of the globe," said Dahal. "Lumbini should be an international center and we are going to New York to create ground for that."
Dahal planned to go to UN headquarters after a plan to invest US$ three billion through a Chinese non-government organization -- Asia Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation (APECF) -- for Lumbini development was dragged into controversy. Dahal is co-chairman of APECF.
APECF officials are for winning the confidence of New Delhi with the help of UN headquarters, as Indian officials had smelt a rat in APECF´s plan to make a huge investment in Lumbini that lies in Nepal near the Indian border.
According to UN officials in Beijing, APECF officials called on Ban in New York a month ago and discussed Dahal´s upcoming visit and APECF´s project for Lumbini.
Xiao Wunan, executive vice-chairman of APECF, had earlier claimed that he had talked to Ban during the latter´s visit to Australia two months before and found the UN very positive toward the development of Lumbini.
Dahal said that as head of the government-formed committee, he would propose the UN secretary-general to head the international committee, on behalf of the government but not as APECF´s co-chairman. "This time I am going to New York on behalf of the government, not in the capacity of APECF co-chairman," Dahal clarified. He, however, was quick to add that APECF will be incorporated in the broader project of Lumbini development once the UN heads the project.
I want to meet Obama
Meantime, officials have started initiatives to arrange meetings for the Maoist chairman with US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Officials said Dahal is for a meeting with President Obama himself.
[[.. Read more at "Dahal to ask Ban to head int'l committee on Lumbini" :: myrepublica.com ..]]
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