Nepal, Aug. 25 -- Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has called for Nepal-US relations to move beyond traditional development assistance and focus more on investment, trade, technology and entrepreneurship as Nepal prepares to graduate from least-developed country status.Speaking at a commemorative event organized by the Centre for Social Innovation and Foreign Policy (CESIF) in Kathmandu on Tuesday to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence, Khanal said Nepal's economic transformation requires a new foundation for bilateral cooperation.

He said Nepal is shifting from an aid-dependent economy toward greater private-sector participation, foreign direct investment and higher-value trade, and that relations with the United States should ...