Kathmandu, Nepal, March 22, 2022: It’s official that Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi is in arriving here on coming Friday for three day official visit to Nepal at the invitation of his Nepalese counterpart Foreign Minister Dr. Narayan Khadka.
Even though Wang’s scheduled visit to Nepal was already revealed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has issued a press statement on Monday to announce officially about his visit to Nepal from March 25 to 27, 2022.
According to the press release, minister for Foreign Affairs Khadka and Wang will hold bilateral talks while leading their respective delegations on March 26, 2022. It is said that both the sides will evaluate past agreements signed between the two neighboring countries and look forward new areas of collaboration during the talks.
Wang’s recent visit to Nepal is taken importantly in the political as well as diplomatic levels as he is the first high-ranking foreign dignitary to visit Nepal since the Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba appointed as prime Minister.
Wang’s visit to Nepal is taken importantly from the western world even in the sense that it is scheduled just months after the ratification of the American grant project- Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) from the parliament despite ‘concerns’ by the China.
Even though none of the sides have made clear over the issue, it is said that Wang is arriving in Nepal not only to explore bilateral ties between the two neighboring countries but also to push Beijing’s ambitious multi-billion Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). A source close to the MoFA has a claim that a raft of agreements under the BRI would be signed during Wang's recent visit to Nepal.
Although Nepal and China had signed in the BRI Framework Agreement in 2017, just four months after signing in the MCC agreement, no projects have yet been implemented.
The BRI, which was launched in 2013, used to be taken as a pet initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping. The project aims to fund infrastructure projects across the world by taking advantage of China’s massive USD 3.21 trillion forex reserves to further strengthen the Chinese influence in the global arena.
During the three day stay in Kathmandu, Wang is scheduled to meet President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. Likewise, Wang is also going meet with former Prime Minister and Chairman of CPN-UML K P Sharma Oli and former Prime Minister and Chairman of CPN-Maoist Centre Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
