KATHMANDU, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- A mountaineering expedition team comprising of Bahraini Prince Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa arrived in Nepal on Wednesday morning to climb two Himalayan mountains, an official of Nepal's Foreign Ministry said.

"The team arrived Nepal at around 11 a.m. (local time) at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu where a team of Nepal's foreign ministry welcomed the expedition team," Suresh Adhikari, assistant spokesperson at Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who led the team of ministry officials for a courtesy call at the airport, told Xinhua on Wednesday.

According to the press release posted by Nepali embassy in Bahrain on its website on Wednesday, an 18-member expedition team comprising 15 members of Bahrain's Royal Guard and three British climbers had set out for Nepal in a private jet in early morning on Wednesday.

According to the Seven Summit Expedition, a Nepali company, which is organizing the expedition, the team plans to climb Mt. Manaslu and Mt. Lobuche. The 8,163m high Mt. Manaslu is the world's eighth highest peak lies in the western Nepal while Mt. Lobuche (6,619m) lies in the Qomolangma region.

But the team has not yet received permit from Nepal's Department of Tourism to climb these mountains because Nepal's Department of Tourism issues the permit at the presence of the team leader as per the mountaineering rules of the Himalayan country.

Mingma Sherpa, managing director of Seven Summit, told Xinhua on Wednesday that the permits could be received by Thursday as all the required documents have already been submitted to the department.

According to Sherpa, this team is climbing the two peaks in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic as a part of preparation to summit Mt. Qomolangma in the spring of 2021.

After arriving Nepal, the team is currently staying at Gokarna Forest Resort at the outskirt of the Kathmandu's city area where they will spend a week in 'hotel quarantine' in line with health protocol of the Nepali government, according to Seven Summit Trek.

"After a week, the team will first set out for Mt. Lobuche which the team plans to climb as a part of acclimatization to scale the Mt. Manaslu," said Sherpa. "The expedition team set out for Mt. Manaslu after scaling the Mt. Lobuche."

This team is expected to remain in Nepal for around two months. Even though Nepali government is yet to permit foreign tourists to Nepal visit, the Nepal's cabinet in late August had decided to permit the expedition team comprising of Bahrain prince.

Meanwhile, Nepal's cabinet early this week decided to allow foreigners who want to visit Nepal for mountaineering and trekking starting from October 17. "But, they should produce a medical report confirming that they don't have infection with coronavirus," said Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Nepal's Foreign Minister and spokesperson of the Nepali government at a press meet on Tuesday. Enditem

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