Nepal PM Oli in China to enhance bilateral cooperation

Kathmandu, June 19

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Tuesday left for China where he will hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang, and is expected to sign major infrastructure projects to further deepen bilateral ties.

Oli, during his first official visit to the neighbouring country since his re-election, will spend six days with his high-level delegation.

During the visit, Oli is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Li and address a Nepal-China Business Forum and think-tanks in Beijing, Himalayan Times reported.

The two countries will sign some agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoUs), it said.

Bilateral discussions will be held and MoUs signed on matters relating to infrastructure development, investment, energy, tourism among other sectors under China’s ambitious ‘one belt one road’ initiative, said Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi.

“The major objective of the visit is to further deepen bilateral relations and cooperation,” he said.

Oli is also scheduled to visit Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet Autonomous Region of China, where he will meet the provincial leaders. The Prime Minister and the delegation will return home on June 24.

On Sunday, he consulted former prime ministers Sher Bahadur Deuba, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal and Baburam Bhattarai.

During consultations, Oli said Nepal’s bilateral relations with China would reach a new height after his visit, the report said.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali had said that during the visit, efforts would be made to seek China’s assistance for laying transmission lines, to enhance bilateral cooperation in the energy sector, and to prepare detailed project report of the railway lines to be built from Keirung to Kathmandu, and from Kathmandu to Pokhara with Chinese assistance, the report added.

Oli is accompanied by Gyawali, Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Barsha Man Pun, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Raghubir Mahaseth, Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister Bishnu Rimal, among others. PTI