Serving from 2013 to 2017, the third executive committee transformed the Academy’s cultural programming with the launch of the annual Nepal-China Cultural Exchange Festival and formalized the organization’s first international partnerships with peer institutions in China.
Cultural Diplomacy in Action
Mr. Rajendra Maharjan, who had served as General Secretary during the second term, brought operational discipline and an expansive vision for public-facing cultural programming. His committee recognized that the Academy’s impact would grow not only through academic channels but through events that engaged ordinary citizens of both nations in the spirit of bilateral friendship.
The inaugural Nepal-China Cultural Exchange Festival, held in Kathmandu in December 2014, drew over one thousand attendees across three days of performances, exhibitions, lectures, and culinary events. Artists, musicians, and scholars from both countries participated, and the festival received coverage in national media outlets including The Kathmandu Post, Kantipur Daily, and Nepal Television.
Committee Roster
- President: Mr. Rajendra Maharjan
- Vice President: Dr. Mina Kumari Acharya
- Vice President: Mr. Arun Bahadur Gurung
- General Secretary: Mr. Bijay Kumar Tamang
- Secretary: Ms. Nirmala Bhandari
- Treasurer: Mr. Pradip Manandhar
- Executive Member: Ms. Anita Gurung
- Executive Member: Dr. Suresh Lal Karna
- Executive Member: Ms. Rekha Shakya
- Executive Member: Mr. Dipak Raj Adhikari
- Executive Member: Prof. Uma Nath Poudel
- Executive Member: Ms. Sangita K.C.
International Partnerships Formalized
Beyond the festival, the third committee’s most consequential achievement was the signing of formal partnership agreements with three Chinese institutions: the China–Nepal Friendship Association (Beijing), the Confucius Institute at Tribhuvan University (a collaborative facilitation role), and the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences. These agreements established frameworks for joint research, faculty exchanges, and collaborative publication projects.
Friendship between nations is not built in foreign ministries alone — it is built in classrooms, on festival stages, and across dining tables where people who were strangers become colleagues and friends.
Mr. Rajendra Maharjan, President, 3rd Executive Committee
The committee also oversaw the Academy’s response to the 2015 Nepal earthquake, coordinating with Chinese aid organizations to channel relief materials and medical supplies to affected communities. This humanitarian collaboration deepened the Academy’s relationship with Chinese civil society organizations and demonstrated the institution’s capacity to serve beyond its academic mandate in times of national crisis.