Kathmandu: Balkrishna Burlakoti has been elected as the International Director of Lions. Burlakoti was elected to the position at the 105th International Convention held in Boston, USA.

The 5-day International Convention was concluded on Tuesday from July 7 to 11.

Lions are active in more than 210 countries around the world. Burlakoti is one of the 18 International Directors of Lions worldwide. He will serve as the International Director until 2025.

Burlakoti, who was elected as the International Director, represents 64 countries including South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Earlier, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda had bid farewell and honored Burlakoti while he was going to participate in the 105th International Convention of Lions. Prime Minister Dahal congratulated Burlakoti and draped the national flag before he left for America to take the oath as the International Director.

He is the second Nepali to lead Lions International. Previously, Sanjay Khaitan led from Nepal in 2015/16.

Burlakoti is the second person to lead Lions International after 52 years of Lions Club entry in Nepal, said Suchitra Thapa, District Governor of Lions District 325, Nepal. He will return to Nepal on Monday, August 1.

Burlakoti, who has been elected as the International Director for the Lions Year 2023-24 of Lions International, which has the largest membership in the world, is the founding president of the Lions Club of Kathmandu Gangabu.

After being elected as the International Director, Burlakoti responded to HariyaliNepal Online, saying, “I am proud to be elected as the International Director and I am encouraged to be more active in social work.” Burlakoti has committed to taking the initiative to bring grants from Lions International to work in the fields of education, health and environment in Nepal along with the development and expansion of Lionism in Nepal. He also claimed that Lions International will also bring a separate program for the development of Nepal’s tourism sector.

Netra Prasad Guragain, former president of Lions Club of Kathmandu Heritage Dharahara and GLT Coordinator of District 325K, said that it is a matter of pride for all Nepalis as he has made Nepal known to the world in the 52 years since the establishment of the Nepal Lions Club.

The five-day conference was attended by a large number of Nepali Lions, including district governors from Nepal. In the rally organized before the conference, Nepali men dressed in their national attire, daurasuruwal coats and caps, and women in saree blouses, waving the national flag of Nepal.