Nepal’s Ambassador Mahendra Prasad Singh Rajput, third from left, with diplomats and other guests in Riyadh. (AN photo) Updated 19 sec ago Arab News June 27, 2018 21:48 220 The guests at the event, which took place earlier this week, included representatives from the business community, and Nepalese community leaders and diplomats The Nepalese ambassador, Mahendra Prasad Singh Rajput, hosted a colorful Eid Al-Fitr celebration at his residence in Riyadh to highlight the friendship between Saudi Arabia and Nepal. The guests at the event, which took place earlier this week, included representatives from the business community, and Nepalese community leaders and diplomats. “The Eid festival symbolizes brotherhood, unity, solidarity, harmony, happiness and prosperity to all Muslims and to all mankind,” Mahendra said. He added: “Nepal and the Nepalese people have great respect for the two holy places, Makkah and Madinah.” He told of his recent visit to the latter, where he met students from Nepal, adding: “I thank the officials of the Madinah University for inviting me and for giving me an opportunity to interact with Nepalese students currently on the rolls of the university.” The recent opening of the Saudi Embassy in Katmandu is evidence, he said, that the two countries are keen to strengthen their ties. Saudi Arabia is a major destination for Nepali migrant workers, home to about 450,000 people from his country, he added. The Nepalese diplomats and officials at the event also included Ambika Prasad Adhikari, Vijay Kumar Raut, Bipin Duwadi, Bharat Khanal, Santosh Kumar Adhikari, Bir Kumar Rai and Mohammed Zainul Abden. All of the participants applauded the growing relationship between the Kingdom and Nepal. The state-owned Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) has been funding projects, mainly infrastructure related, in the South Asian country. The Kingdom also grants soft loans through the SFD for a variety of projects, along with much-needed aid that is currently focused on hydropower and irrigation initiatives.