Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has defended his decision to go to China instead of India. He called it nonsense. According to Kathmandu Times, Oli is on an official visit to China from December 2 to 6. He is being criticized for his decision to go to China first instead of India.
It has been a tradition in Nepal that whoever becomes the new Prime Minister first visits India. On the question of breaking this tradition, Oli said-
Is it written somewhere that a particular country should be visited first? Is it written in a religious text or in the constitution or in the charter of the United Nations? Nepal is in favor of maintaining good relations with all its neighbours. We have no enmity with anyone.
In fact, this comment of Oli has come after the interview of former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachand'. Prachand recently gave an interview to 'The Hindu'. In which he said that Oli is playing the 'China card' by visiting China instead of India.
Nepali PM KP Sharma Oli with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The picture is from July 2021. So far he has visited China three times as Prime Minister.
Oli said – he does not go to China to ask for a loan Oli also expressed confidence in the success of his upcoming visit to China. He said, I am not traveling suddenly, I will inform myself after my return. He further said that he is not going to China to ask for a loan. They want to increase the productivity of Nepal.
Last week, Oli said about his visit to India that-
I am going to China first, it does not mean that we do not have good relations with India. We took a different stance when India blocked in (2015-16), so they were not happy, but there is no reason to be upset now.
Why is Oli not coming to India? Oli's close advisers told the Kathmandu Post last month that they had expected India to invite Nepal's new prime minister as before, but four months after assuming office, there has been no official invitation from India. Usually, the invitation comes from New Delhi soon after the Prime Minister of Nepal assumes office.
KP Sharma Oli first came to India as Prime Minister in February 2016. Meanwhile, PM Modi welcomed him.
Oli came to India for the first time after becoming PM KP Oli became the Prime Minister of Nepal for the first time in August 2015. After this he visited India in February 2016. A month later, in March, he went to China. Oli has been the PM of Nepal four times so far.
He was in office for 10 months in 2015, 40 months in 2018 and three months in 2021. Oli took oath as PM in July this year.
However, Oli took several anti-India measures in his previous tenure. It was during his time that the Nepal government released the disputed map. Apart from this, he also made many anti-India statements. This time it is believed that the reason behind not sending an invitation to KP Sharma Oli is that there has been a change in India's policies regarding Nepal.
Airport built on Chinese loan, now you can appeal for loan waiver The Kathmandu Post quoted officials as saying that PM Oli will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Li Qiang during the visit. In the meantime, Oli will try to get the Chinese government to waive the loan given to Nepal. China has given a loan of about 17 thousand crore rupees to Nepal for Pokhara International Airport.
According to the report, earlier on August 23, Nepal's Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel also appealed to China to waive the loan. He said that Pokhara International Airport is not earning enough to pay the debt to China.
Pokhara International Airport was completed in January 2023. Initially international flights operated from here, but due to lack of passengers it was restricted to domestic flights.
BRI project can also be discussed Apart from this, Oli may also discuss the BRI project during this visit. There is controversy over its implementation in Nepal. The Nepali Congress, an ally in the government, was opposing the expensive loan from China. However, now he is quiet on the matter. Earlier the mighty government had refrained from taking loans from BRI, but now the current government is insisting on extending it.
According to reports, Nepal and China signed an agreement on the BRI project in 2017. According to this, 9 projects were to be worked on in Nepal with Chinese money, but even after 7 years, not a single project has been started in Nepal. In fact, the previous government wanted China to give Nepal rupees in the form of financial assistance instead of loans. But China was denying this.
According to a finance ministry official, China fears that if it gives this concession to Nepal, other countries will also start demanding loan waivers from it.
The tradition of PM visiting India started 64 years ago
According to the BBC, India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru first invited Nepal's Prime Minister Bisheswar Prasad Koirala to participate in the Republic Day celebrations on January 26, 1960. At that time, India had given assistance of 18 crore rupees to Nepal. Koirala also visited China in April this year and met Chinese leader Mao Zedong.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
