By Vestnik Kavkaza
The permanent mission of Dagestan in Moscow held a round-table discussion titled "Cultural differences and similarities of Dagestan and Nepal", the presentation of the book "From the Caucasus Mountains to the Himalayan Heights" and an exhibition by the photographer Ivan Kozorezov.
“A year ago, I was invited by the Embassy of Nepal to celebrate the Nepali New Year. And at the same time there was a photographic exhibition by Ivan Kozorezov on Nepal and Dagestan,” Sergei Murtuzaliev, writer, Doctor of Historical Sciences, told Vestnik Kavkaza. “And I had an idea: look, you're in the mountains, and we are in the mountains. Maybe it makes sense to follow some general features that are sure to exist. But at the same time, there are differences. This, maybe, at first glance is an eclectic attempt - the Himalaya and Dagestan are very far from each other. But the attempt to trace some general convergence and, at the same time, differences between highlanders is, in general, quite interesting.”
“Our countries are so similar, both Nepal and Dagestan have such wealth as the mountains - we are alike in this. We have talked about the fact that mountaineers, probably in all countries, should have the same temperament, which makes us quite close,” Alexander Yermoshkin, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Dagestan under the Russian President, says.
“We are proud to be welcomed by the people of Dagestan. Nepal is known as the country of the Himalaya, and it is surrounded by the territory of India on three sides, and in the north there is China,” Ravi Mohan Sapkota Kopila, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Nepal, stated. “This is a small country where people speak over 100 languages, which has more than 100 ethnic groups, and there is a diversity of languages and tribes.”
“The similarity of our countries - the Russian Federation and Nepal – is lots of languages and ethnicities,” Gadzhimet Sarafaliev, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Nationalities, agreed with Nepal’s ambassador. “We have 193 ethnic groups and 287 languages. And the most important problem of the state is the consolidation of peoples, ethnic groups to address the global challenges facing the state. And if in terms of mountaineering Nepal can share its experience with us, in terms of building a multinational company, we can share our experience.”
