CSAS in cooperation with RCSS, Colombo and GPPAC (The Netherlands) organized a 2-day international conference on the above theme on Oct. 23-24, 2011. SAARC Secretary General Uz. Fathimath Dhiyana Saeed inaugurated the conference. Amb. Nihal Rodrigo, Amb. Veena Sikri, representatives of ASEAN and the EU and more than a dozen South Asian and 40 Nepali delegates participated in the meet which was widely covered by the media.
A meeting was held on Water Security from April 10-12, 2011 in Muscat, Oman organized by the Near-East and South Asia Center (NESA) of the National Defense University of Washington D.C. and Middle-east Desalination Research Center, Oman. Mr. Kumar P. Lohani, former Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Physical Planning of Nepal government participated in the meeting representing the CSAS.
Director of CSAS Nishchal N. Pandey was invited to the Rome conference on 'Reintegration, Reconstruction and Reconciliation in Afghanistan' from Feb. 9-11, 2011. It was organized by the Regional Network of Strategic Study Centers (RNSSC) under the National Defense University of Washington D.C. Various options for the security, stability and economic reconstruction of Afghanistan was explored during the meeting.
In cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, CSAS organized the NNIP-5 on 'Challenges to Secularism in Nepal' at Hotel Shangri-La, Kathmandu on April 1, 2011. Prof. Rabindra Khanal of the Tribhuvan University, Prakash Rimal of The Himalayan Times, Amish Raj Mulmi of The Kathmandu Post, Monika Timsina, Lecturer of the Padma Kanya Campus and Nishchal N. Pandey of the CSAS presented 5 insightful papers. CSAS will soon be bringing out a policy paper on the conference.
Director of CSAS Nishchal N. Pandey presented a paper at a seminar hosted by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung on 'Common Grounds: Ways to Regional Cooperation in South Asia' at Berlin Schwanenwerder. He interacted with a number of M.Ps of the CDU party, senior officials of the KAS, German Federal Foreign office, European Commission, NATO headquarters and various Institutes in Berlin and Brussels. The visit as part of the Consortium of South Asian Think-Tanks and consisted of Director's of think-tanks from SAARC countries and was organized by the KAS Regional Program-SAARC.
Dr. Beatrice Gorawantschy, Head of the KAS for India and SAARC thanked the CSAS Director Mr. Pandey and the whole team for the successful holding of the conference.