India and Lesotho held the 5th round of Joint Bilateral Commission for Cooperation here on Wednesday.

The Indian side was led by Puneet R Kundal, joint secretary (E&SA) in Ministry of External Affairs and the Lesotho side was led by Thabang Polycarp Lekhela, Deputy Principal Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Relations of Lesotho.

“5th India-Lesotho Joint Bilateral Commission for Cooperation meeting held in Maseru today. Co-chaired by JS (E&SA) @prkundal & Deputy Principal Secretary Thabang Lekhela of Lesotho MFA,” Arindam Bagchi.

Both sides reviewed bilateral relations and discussed ways for cooperation in areas of development partnership, trade and economic relations, agriculture, health, infrastructure, consular and cultural issues among others.

During the meeting, the two sides carried out a comprehensive review of the existing bilateral relations, including enhancing of cooperation in development partnership, trade and economic relations, energy, agriculture, health, art and culture and consular matters. Both sides also reviewed the status of MoUs under negotiation and agreed to expedite their finalisation for the mutual benefit of both the countries.

The two sides agreed to enhance high level exchanges and have regular meetings of the institutional mechanisms to keep up the momentum in bilateral relations. The Indian side invited Lesotho to join International Solar Alliance and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

The two sides also exchanged views on regional issues as well as cooperation in multilateral fora including the United Nations.

Both sides agreed to hold the next round of Joint Bilateral Commission for Cooperation at mutually convenient dates in New Delhi.

(SOURCE: ANI)