Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday. (Photo from Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying’s X feed)
China regards Nepal as an important neighbor, and Xi wants to advance the strategic partnership, according to a statement by state mouthpiece Xinhua.
In particular, Beijing will deepen support in the construction of infrastructure under China’s Belt Road Initiative, the statement quotes Xi as saying. It includes ports, power grids and communication networks to help Nepal’s transition from a “landlocked country to a land-linked country.” It also stressed that cross-Himalayan connectivity between the countries is gradually becoming a reality.
Ahead of the meeting, Oli met Premier Li Qiang and signed nine deals, according to Nepal’s foreign ministry. They cover Beijing’s support for the construction of a tunnel to quicken the journey between Kathmandu and the Chinese border, as well as the reconstruction of an ancient palace in the historic Durbar Square, also known as Basantapur Durbar, in the Nepali capital. The nine-story palace was damaged in a 2015 earthquake.
While Nepal and China also signed an agreement on cash assistance of 300 million yuan, there was no announcement on the much-anticipated waiver of a $216 million credit extended by Beijing for the construction of Pokhara Airport in Nepal.
Oli’s four-day visit to China, through Thursday, is his first since assuming office in July, following the ousting of his predecessor through a no-confidence vote. The trip was organized after Oli failed to secure an invitation from India, the first country that Nepal’s new leaders used to visit by convention.
So far, the outcome appears to be lacking, by Nepal’s standards, largely due to little preparation and differing views on Chinese support for projects such as its BRI, analysts said. The Nepali government’s stance of accepting only grants and not loans under the BRI has added to these challenges, they said.
In a separate meeting on construction works under the BRI held on Monday, Xi urged Chinese officials to advance the infrastructure-driven initiative cautiously amid the “current severe and complex international environment.”
Xi called for efforts to “appropriately manage all types of risks and challenges, as well as effectively address the impact of geopolitical conflicts,” even as he acknowledged that “opportunities outweigh challenges,” according to state media People’s Daily.
China has signed BRI cooperation documents with over 150 countries and more than 30 international institutes. A diplomatic offensive initiated by Xi after he took office in 2013 to exert Beijing’s global influence, the BRI has been criticized for indebting emerging economies.
source : asia.nikkei