Nepalese Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli is in China on a four-day visit. Oli's visit to China was his first to a foreign country since his July swearing-in, a break from the customary destination of New Delhi, with which Kathmandu has centuries' old ties.
Indian media has been
closely following Oli's China visit. Calling Oli "a pro-China
leader", the Hindustan Times noted that Oli broke with "the usual
practice of Nepali prime ministers making India their first destination in the
neighborhood after assuming charge, amid media reports that he did not get an
invitation from New Delhi".
India's Business Standard described Oli as a
"veteran communist politician", who "seeks to reduce its
traditional dependence on India". The media outlet also raised "debt
concerns" regarding a $216 million loan from China to build an
international airport in Pokhara.
Hu Zhiyong, a research fellow with the Institute of International Relations at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said that the choice of China as the first foreign country to visit after Oli took office in July shows that the Nepalese government attaches great importance to China-Nepal relations and regards the development of relations with China as the main direction of its diplomatic work.
"New Delhi should not
overly interpret the China-Nepal cooperation, which does not target any third
party... Instead, the cooperation is conducive to promoting regional common
development and safeguarding regional stability."
Hu stressed that many South Asian countries like
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives have achieved their own development
by participating in BRI projects. "The BRI is a big cake for cooperation.
Nepal wants to share the cake as well," Hu said.
China and Nepal signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on bilateral cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative in May 2017. President Xi paid a state visit to Nepal in October 2019.
Chinese President Xi Jinping
met with Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Tuesday, pledging efforts to
advance its strategic partnership of cooperation with Nepal.
Expressing appreciation for Oli's firm commitment
to promoting friendship between the two sides over a long period of time, Xi
said China and Nepal, linked by the same mountains and rivers, are good
neighbors, good friends and good partners, and bilateral relations have
maintained sound and steady development.
China is ready to continue offering assistance to
Nepal's economic and social development within its capacity, and to encourage
Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Nepal, Xi said.
During his first term as prime minister in 2016, Oli cut a petroleum deal with China after New Delhi imposed a six-month oil blockade on Kathmandu a year earlier.
That move upended India's status as Nepal's sole fuel supplier and paved the way for increased co-operation with Beijing.
China has since extended Nepal a loan of $216 million to build an international airport in Pokhara, the second-largest city about 200 km (124 miles) west of Kathmandu, which began operating last year.
But
the Chinese-built airport, claimed by Beijing as a symbol of Belt and Road
success, has grappled with problems, such as a lack of international flights,
due to India's refusal to let planes use its airspace to reach Pokhara.
According to official
statistics, after India, China is the second-biggest trade partner of Nepal.
Bilateral trade volume between China and Nepal in 2023 was $1.8 billion, an
increase of 9.1 percent year-on-year. From January to August 2024, trade volume
between China and Nepal was $1.28 billion, surging 18 percent year-on-year.
Bilateral trade between China and Nepal accounts
for 17 percent of Nepal's total, according to the Xinhua News Agency, citing
Ramesh Aryal, deputy director general of the customs department of Nepal's
Ministry of Finance.
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