Bhutan requests Nepal to change venue of talks on refugees

Bhutan has requested the Nepali government to change the venue of the bilateral talks on the Bhutanese refugees from Nepal to Bhutan, a leading news website reported Friday.

"Bhutan's Prime Minister Khandu Wangchuk called me to request for holding the meeting in Thimpu instead of Kathmandu," Nepali Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister KP Oli was quoted as saying by nepalnews.com, a popular news website.

"The Bhutanese prime minister told me over the phone that since Nov. 11 is the birthday of Bhutanese King, he will have a busy schedule at that time," Oli said.

According to the website, Oli had written a letter a week ago, officially requesting for holding the meeting on Nov. 12-13 in Kathmandu.

However, talking to journalists at the Foreign Ministry on Thursday, Oli said he was not keen on changing the location of talks from Nepal to Bhutan.

Although no new date for the meeting has been set, Oli hoped it would be held sometime on in third week of November, saying that "postponement of date and time should not be a hindrance in the talks."

Some 105,000 Bhutanese refugees have been living in seven camps in eastern Nepal for the last 15 years.

As many as 15 rounds of bilateral talks have been held between the two governments, but all have failed to yield any results so far.

Source: Xinhua