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Ambassador of the European Union to Nepal, Dr. Alexander Spachis on Sunday addressing a function at the Lalit Kala Pratisthan in Naxal said Lithuania, a member of the European Union, which will be assuming the Union presidency starting mid-2013 is for developing close cultural and economic relations with Nepal. Speaking at the function organized to mark the 20th anniversary of the Lithuanian climber Valdas Vitkauskas’s ascent on Everest in 1993 and the exhibition of his photos taken during his Everest expedition, Ambassador Spachis said though geographically far apart Lithuania is very much in the heart of Europe in terms of its culture and trade. He praised the climber for succeeding to climb all the highest peaks in the five continents of the world and said Lithuania is a country without mountains. It must really have been challenging for Valdas who comes from a country with flat land to climb mountains, he added. Inaugurating the exhibition, Vice President Parmananda Jha said that the valuable effort of the Lithuanian climber will contribute to promote Nepal’s tourism and mountains in the countries abroad. He hoped that the bilateral relations between the Nepal Government and the European Union would be further consolidated in the days ahead and thanked Valdas for organising the photo exhibition. “I want to dedicate the exhibition to Pasang Lahmu Sherpa who was climbing Everest in the same year with me but lost her life while descending the mountain,” said Valdas. Some of the photos in the exhibition show the funeral procession and the performance of the last rites of Sherpa. The Lithuanian climber said that he regarded it as an honour to have been in the team of climbers who brought Sherpa’s mortal remains to Kathmandu. Naresh Shrestha, Managing Director of Nepal Pavilion Company, the co-organiser of the event said Nepal needs to learn a lot from Lithuania since the presence of the Lithuanian Deputy Interior Minister, Gintaras Steponas, at the function clearly indicated that the government there supported private individuals and institutions in their bid to do something constructive in a foreign country.

Ambassador of the European Union to Nepal, Dr. Alexander Spachis on Sunday addressing a function at the Lalit Kala Pratisthan in Naxal said Lithuania, a member of the European Union, which will be assuming the Union presidency starting mid-2013 is for developing close cultural and economic relations with Nepal.

Speaking at the function organized to mark the 20^th anniversary of the Lithuanian climber Valdas Vitkauskas’s ascent on Everest in 1993 and the exhibition of his photos taken during his Everest expedition, Ambassador Spachis said though geographically far apart Lithuania is very much in the heart of Europe in terms of its culture and trade.

He praised the climber for succeeding to climb all the highest peaks in the five continents of the world and said Lithuania is a country without mountains. It must really have been challenging for Valdas who comes from a country with flat land to climb mountains, he added.

Inaugurating the exhibition, Vice President Parmananda Jha said that the valuable effort of the Lithuanian climber will contribute to promote Nepal’s tourism and mountains in the countries abroad.

He hoped that the bilateral relations between the Nepal Government and the European Union would be further consolidated in the days ahead and thanked Valdas for organising the photo exhibition.

“I want to dedicate the exhibition to Pasang Lahmu Sherpa who was climbing Everest in the same year with me but lost her life while descending the mountain,” said Valdas. Some of the photos in the exhibition show the funeral procession and the performance of the last rites of Sherpa.

The Lithuanian climber said that he regarded it as an honour to have been in the team of climbers who brought Sherpa’s mortal remains to Kathmandu.

Naresh Shrestha, Managing Director of Nepal Pavilion Company, the co-organiser of the event said Nepal needs to learn a lot from Lithuania since the presence of the Lithuanian Deputy Interior Minister, Gintaras Steponas, at the function clearly indicated that the government there supported private individuals and institutions in their bid to do something constructive in a foreign country.