Visit of the Honourable George J. Furey, QC,
Speaker of the Senate,
and a Parliamentary Delegation,
Democratic Republic of Nepal and Republic of India

From February 10 to 14, 2020, the Speaker of the Senate, the Honourable George J. Furey, QC, led a parliamentary delegation to the Democratic Republic of Nepal and the Republic of India. The delegation consisted of the Honourable Senator Donald Neil Plett and the Honourable Senator Yvonne Boyer. Accompanying the delegation were Mr. Stuart Barnable, Chief of Staff, Office of the Speaker, and Ms. Catherine Cuerrier, Secretary to the delegation.

The delegation met with the following officials in Kathmandu, Democratic Republic of Nepal:

• The Right Honourable Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, Prime Minister of Nepal;
• The Right Honourable Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, Chairperson of the Rastriya Sabha;
• The Honourable Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Minister of Foreign Affairs;
• The Honourable Giriraj Mani Pokhrel, Minister of Education, Science and Technology; and
• The Honourable Khag Raj Adhikari, Convener of the Nepal-Canada Parliamentary Friendship Group.

The delegation met with the following officials in New Delhi,  Republic of India:

• The Honourable Venkaiah Naidu, Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha and Vice-President of India;
• The Honourable Om Birla, Speaker of the Lok Sabha;
• The Honourable Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs;
• The Honourable Ramesh Pokhriyal, Minister of Human Resource Development; and
• Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of the Opposition of the Rajya Sabha.

The purpose of the visit to the Democratic Republic of Nepal and the Republic of India was to strengthen bilateral relations with these two countries, promote democratic values and Canadian interests, enhance trade and investment relations, and explore opportunities for further cooperation in the area of education through increased collaboration between each country’s educational institutions. Finally, the visit to Nepal—the first high-level visit in a number of years— served to significantly strengthen and broaden relations with that country.

The report will be available once it has been tabled in the Senate.