Lasting peace first condition for Nepal's development: UK parliamentarians

The delegation of the British parliament's International Development Committee has urged Nepal's political parties to accelerate the ongoing peace process.Organising a press conference in Kathmandu on Saturday, after completing the four-day visit, the nine-member team of British parliamentarians lead by the Committee's chairman Malcolm Bruce said that the progress on poverty reduction and inclusion of all groups in the society, particularly women and ethnic and religious minorities will not be achieved without permanent peace and stability.Stating that 31 percent of Nepal's population earns less than one dollar per day, Bruce further said there are huge challenges regarding development in Nepal, which have been further complicated by the slow peace process.Expressing the UK's commitment to assist in Nepal's development, he added that the Nepal government must prepare conducive environment for assistance."UK wants to see that the agreed peace process, writing the new constitution must remain on track and all sides must work together on their peace commitments", he added.During its stay here, the British parliamentary team visited Surkhet, Achham, Banke, Kaski, Parbat and Baglung districts and inspected Maoist cantonments, hospitals, schools, community forests, roads and water supply programmes funded by the British government.They also met the Prime Minister, ministers, party leaders, representatives of civil society, private sector and the donor community.The British parliamentary delegation left for Bangladesh for the similar visit today.