Kathmandu, June 9:Minister for Foreign Affairs and special envoy Chakra Prasad Bastola, Royal Nepalese ambassador to Japan Kedar Bhakta Mathema and deputy chief of protocol Deepak Dhital today attended the funeral of former Japanese prime minister the late Keizo Obuchi and offered flowers at the alter set up for the occasion.

Later in the evening they also attended a reception hosted by Prime Minister Yoshio Mori and offered condolences to Mrs. Obuchi and members of the Obuchi family, according to the Royal Nepalese Embassy in Tokyo.

On the occasion, Mrs. Obuchi told Mr. Bastola how much she and other members of her family had enjoyed their visit to Nepal with the late Keizo Obuchi some years ago.

Mr. Bastola responded that with Mr. Obuchi’s death, Nepal has lost a good friend.