Nepal PM Heads to China Ahead of India

Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will visit China next week, bypassing a tradition in which the country’s leaders make India their first foreign trip after taking office and raising the geopolitical stakes for the Himalayan nation.

Nepal PM Heads to China Ahead of India

Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will visit China next week, bypassing a tradition in which the country’s leaders make India their first foreign trip after taking office and raising the geopolitical stakes for the Himalayan nation. Mr. Oli, during recent a meeting with former PMs and foreign ministers, claimed the BRI deal signed with China was not a loan-based agreement and there was no need to discuss now whether or not to seek a loan from Beijing.

“We take loans or grants based on our national interests as and when we need them from any country or agency. We should not be swayed by the baseless rumour that a loan is being taken to entrap the country,” Mr Oli clarified. “Irrespective of the country we chose for our first visit, we keep sovereignty, independence and freedom as well as national welfare along with global welfare in top priority,” he said.

Mr. Oli’s remarks came amid speculations that Nepali Congress, led by Sher Bahadur Deuba, favours grants from China under BRI while the priority of Nepali Prime Minister’s Communist Party of Nepal- Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) is to seek loans under the arrangement.

KP Oli’s China Visit

In a departure from the tradition of Nepal’s newly elected leaders visiting India first, which was seen as a nod to the close ties between Kathmandu and New Delhi, PM Oli chose China for his maiden visit since taking office. The Prime Minister’s office justified the move saying the visit to Beijing was fixed recently, and that New Delhi has not extended an invitation to Mr. Oli thus far.

However, Mr. Oli is known for his pro-China stance. On multiple occasions over the past decade, Mr. Oli and his CPN-UML have advocated for closer ties with China. In 2016, Mr. Oli made his maiden visit to China as Prime Minister. Soon after, his administration sought to improve cross-border railroad connectivity, infrastructure development, trade, investment and tourism cooperation with China under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. However, the agreement signed in 2017, is yet to be finalised, as China and Nepal have been unable to negotiate a loan under the BRI despite intense efforts from Beijing.