KATHMANDU, August 13: Chinese Vice Premier of the State Council Wang Yang arrived in Kathmandu on Monday on a four-day official visit to Nepal at the invitation of the government.
Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Jitendra Kumar Dev welcomed him at VIP lounge at Tribhuvan International Airport upon his arrival from Islamabad Monday evening.
The visit by premier Wang is seen with much interest in diplomatic circles as this comes in the wake of the India-China standoff over Doklam. The visit comes after Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Nepal on Thursday in the course of participating in the 15th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting held in Kathmandu.
Chinese Vice Premier Wang visits Nepal today
The Vice-Premier Wang is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the Basantapur Durbar Restoration Project under the Chinese assistance on Tuesday morning. Minister for Foreign Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Minister Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Dev is also scheduled to attend the ceremony.
Yang will then hold delegation-level bilateral talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Federal Affairs and Local Development Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar on the same day. He will also witness the signing ceremony of the agreement related to Chinese assistance for Nepal"s post-quake reconstruction.
Deputy Prime Minister and Local Development Minister Bijaya Kumar Gachchhadar scheduled to host a lunch reception in Wang's honor.
Wang is scheduled to hold political meeting with President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, main opposition party leader K P Sharma Oli, and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and other leaders on Wednesday. Yang will visit the National Ayurveda Research and Training Center in Kirtipur on 16 August 2017. He will return home on Thursday.
