State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam has said Bangladesh is committed to continuing its partnership with Nepal and will work to take it to a new height in the coming years. "We happily look back at the last fifty years of relationship," he said, adding that the two countries can work together to face the challenges of graduation from the group of the least developed countries (LDCs). The state minister was addressing a reception hosted by Charge d'Affaires at the Nepalese Embassy in Dhaka Kumar Rai at a city hotel Friday, marking the 50 years of diplomatic ties. Read: Dhaka renews call to Washington to lift Rab sanctions Bangladesh and Nepal established diplomatic relations on April 8, 1972. Shahriar said Nepal is one of the first few countries to recognise Bangladesh as a sovereign country and Bangladesh recognised 11 eminent personalities of Nepal including the incumbent foreign minister of Nepal as "Friends of Bangladesh" for their contribution to the country's cause in 1971. He noted that Bangladesh has been maintaining friendly relations with its neighbours guided by the philosophy of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The state minister expressed satisfaction with the recent growth of trade between Bangladesh and Nepal and called for concluding a preferential trade agreement to reap the untapped potential.