ISLAMABAD            -         Ambassador of Nepal to Pakistan Tapas Adhikari said yesterday that Nepal-Pakistan bilateral trade relations were very limited but they were improving day by day. “We are optimistic on recent positive trends after the Covid-19 pandemic on bilateral economic engagements and hope it will surpass pre-Covid level very soon. In 2020, Nepal exported goods of 100 million NRs and imported 1.04 billion Nepali rupees from Pakistan. The Embassy is committed to work with business community in Pakistan towards further enhancing the bilateral trade relations between our countries,” he added. Speaking at a reception hosted by him in honour of the Pakistani journalists, Ambassador Adhikari said tourism was a niche product of Nepal and it is a hub of adventure tourism. “Many Pakistani friends visit Nepal as tourists and Nepali and Pakistani mountaineers are working together in various mountaineering expeditions in Nepal or in Pakistan. Unavailability of direct air link has hampered large flow of tourists and once we could be able to re-connection of air services, there is high possibility of tourists’ flow between Nepal and Pakistan,” he remarked. He said the Nepali and Pakistani mountaineers are working together in various expeditions sharing skills, knowledge and techniques of mountaineering and expanding mountaineering in the two countries. “I believe continued cooperation between Nepali and Pakistani mountaineers will make a difference to both countries, making it the center of mountain and adventure tourism,” Ambassador Adhikari said. He mentioned that Pakistan with 220 million population was a big market of tourism. “Every year a large number of people visits different countries from Pakistan. Being in the neighborhood, simple visa regime, friendly environment, hospitable people, I believe Pakistani people will enjoy their visit in Nepal,” he maintained. Pakistan, he said had rich cultural and religious heritage. “It is the place where great religions and philosophy like Hinduism, Buddhism Sikhism and Sufism were established or flourished. There are Buddhists artifacts scattered across Taxila valley, Takhta-e-Bahi and in different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other part of Pakistan,” he said. Taxila, he said, used to be a center of learning and propagating Buddhism in different parts of the world. It showed that Buddhism had deeply rooted in these areas, he added.