A Hundred Year : Nepal and Britain Historic 'Treaty of Friendship'

One hundred years after Nepal's Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher Rana signed the historic 'Treaty of Friendship' with British envoy W.F. T O'Connor in Kathmandu, the event was commemorated in the same palace chamber last Thursday.

The treaty was signed on December 21, 1923, at the Belayati Baithak hall in Singha Darbar palace. Exactly a century later, Nepal's Foreign Minister N.P. Saud and British Ambassador Rob Fenn sat at nearly the same spot to re-enact the historic signing.

Historians consider the treaty the most important agreement in which the world's sole colonial superpower at the time recognized and guaranteed Nepal's sovereignty, acknowledging it as an independent nation distinct from Indian princely states.

"Nepal was never colonized and was always a sovereign nation," said Ambassador Fenn at the centenary ceremony.

Minister Saud described the 1923 treaty as a "powerful document" that allowed Nepal to find common ground with a global power when many Asian and African countries were under colonial rule.

Nepal's newly appointed Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal praised Britain's cooperation in Nepal's development over the past 100 years. She added that Britain upgrading its Kathmandu residency to an embassy enabled Nepal to expand its international relations after the treaty.

The ornate Belayati Baithak state hall in Singha Darbar palace was used for ceremonial affairs. It is located inside the western facade of the palace that Chandra Shumsher built in 1908, now the central secretariat.

The hall miraculously survived the devastating 1972 fire that destroyed most parts of Singha Darbar. Badly damaged in the 2015 earthquake, heritage advocates lobbied to meticulously repair, reinforce, and restore its original splendor after experts advised demolition.

The 50m by 10m neoclassical hall features ornate mirrors, paintings, and a fountain, with a wide balcony overlooking the garden, palace gate, and city.