– Krishna Prasad Sharma

The Gorakha Municipality and Rushmoor Borough Council of Great Britain have established sister city relations.

Mayor of Rushmoor Borough, Sue Carter and Mayor of Gorakha Municipality Rajan Raj Panta signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect on behalf their respective cities.

On the occasion, Mayor Panta said Gorakha municipality was different from other municipalities in Nepal, adding that Gorakha district has historic importance as it was the king of Gorkha Prithvi Narayan Shah who initiated the national unification campaign from this district.

Mayor Panta stated that a statue of the late king was installed there, commemorating his contribution to national unification.

He said the Gorakha Municipality was working to develop Gorakha as a major tourist destination and also set the slogan, ‘Visit Gorakha, Explore Gorakha’, for this purpose. According to him, this campaign will also contribute to the Visit Nepal Year 2020.

At the programme, Rushmoor Borough’s leader David Clifford said the reason behind establishing sister city relations with Gorakha instead of other municipalities in Nepal was that the Nepalis serving in the British Army are known as the Gurkha soldiers which is same as Gorakha.

Ambassador of Nepal to the UK, Dr Durga Bahadur Subedi said sister city relations would be fostered between Nepal’s cities with other British cities as well to make the Visit Nepal Year 2020 successful.

Some British Gurkha soldiers, employees working in local fire brigade and office-bearers of various clubs set up in the Borough were present in the MoU signing ceremony on Friday. A cultural programme depicting Nepali culture was also presented on the occasion.