KATHMANDU: Nepal’s premier will visit China next month, the foreign ministry said on Friday (Nov 29), a departure from the usual practice by the Himalayan republic’s leaders of making India their first official destination.
Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, who returned to power in July, departs for a four-day trip on Tuesday and is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and hold talks with Premier Li Qiang.
Oli, serving as prime minister for a third time this year, previously trod a fine balance between Nepal’s two powerful neighbours but favoured Beijing in a bid to decrease his country’s historical dependence on New Delhi.
“This visit will be focused on implementing earlier agreements that have slowed because of the pandemic and political changes in Nepal,” Pradeep Gyawali, the deputy secretary of Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) told AFP.
Gyawali said discussions would include prior investment deals including for the recently finished construction of an international airport in the tourist hub of Pokhara, with talk that the Chinese loan underwriting the project could be converted into a grant.
Nepali media reported that Oli likely chose Beijing as his first destination due to the absence of a formal invitation from New Delhi.
India and China both wield sway in Nepal, though India holds a larger share of trade and influence.
Last fiscal year, India accounted for nearly 65 percent of Nepal’s total trade, according to customs data.
China’s trade share was about 15 percent by contrast, though Chinese companies lead in some industries including a 70 percent share of Nepal’s electric vehicle market.
India has the highest foreign investment in Nepal, pumping in more than US$750 million last year, with China investing more than US$250 million, according to Nepal’s central bank.
“Both our neighbours should respect the fact that Nepal does harbour small-state anxieties as a nation sandwiched between two world powers,” Akhilesh Upadhyay of Kathmandu-based think tank IIDS told AFP.
“But our choices should be guided by our national interest. We should not feel caught up in the great-power rivalry.”
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