Headed by President Yang Jiemian, an SIIS delegation visited Nepal, India and Bangladesh from Jan. 27 to Feb. 8, 2009.

During their stay in Nepal, the delegation met with Nepali Prime Minister and CPN-Maoist leader “Prachanda,” M. K. Nepal (Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly and Leader of CPN-United Marxist & Leninist), Koirala (former Prime Minister and Chairman of the Nepali Congress Party) and Deuba (former Prime Minister and senior leader for Nepali Congress Party) respectively. The delegation also shared their views with heads of six major think-tanks from SAARC countries as well as some other government officials, business leaders, top scholars and mainstream Nepali media.

In India, the delegation met with Indian External Affairs and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Foreign Secretary Menon, Defense Minister A. K. Antony, Vice Defense Minister V. Singh and Dr. Pujari, Joint Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, respectively. The delegation also visited three major Indian think-tanks, namely IDSA, USI and ICS. Besides, the delegation attended the Opening Ceremony of the 11th Asian Security Conference at IDSA and joined Indian senior journalists in a luncheon meeting hosted by V. Prakash, Joint Secretary of Publicity, Ministry of External Affairs and former Indian Consul-General in Shanghai.

In Bangladesh, the delegation met with Foreign Minister Morshed Khan, and visited National Defense College, Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS), as well as Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS). The delegation also participated in the Roundtable on “China-South Asia Strategic Relations” held by BIPSS, and exchanged views with heads of Bangladesh-China People’s Friendship Association and a number of elite media.

On their 12-day trip, the delegation visited the Chinese Embassies in all the three countries, and shared their thoughts with the three ambassadors as well as some embassy staff members.

The delegation is composed of the head, President Yang Jiemian, Zhao Gancheng, Director for South Asia Studies, Wang Lei, Director for Academic Affairs, Wang Weihua, Research Fellow at South Asia Studies, and Zhang Zhexin, Research Fellow at Asia-Pacific Studies.

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