Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli kicks off his four-day official visit to China on Monday as the head of an over 80-member delegation composed of government officials and representatives from the private sector. Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Dr Arzu Rana Deuba made a brief trip to Chengdu – her first since taking the ministerial charge – to lay the groundwork for Prime Minister Oli's visit. She met with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, and is learned to have conveyed Nepal's commitment to implement the projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Speaking to journalists on her return from China, Minister Rana reiterated that due to Nepal's current economic condition, taking loans under BRI is not feasible for Nepal. Foreign Minister Rana seems to have communicated that very message to the Chinese side clearly. Rightly so. In her brief remarks at the airport, the minister said that the Chinese authorities were receptive to Nepal’s concerns during the discussions. Nepal and China have engaged with the BRI process since signing a framework agreement in 2017. Ever since, Nepal has engaged in passionate debates over the implementation of BRI. While any single project under the BRI framework remains yet to be implemented, China shared a detailed implementation plan of the BRI in 2020. That plan kicked up a lot of dust in Nepal. Political parties and the general public were sharply divided over the Chinese proposal that largely focused on loans even as the project components are composed of infrastructure projects, including roads construction and hydropower development. The Prime Minister's visit comes at a time when the Chinese side is said to be unhappy about the way the BRI issue has been discussed in the media. The Chinese Ambassador to Nepal has issued public statements, expressing serious reservations about the media coverage of BRI and public statements coming from many political leaders.
Amid this background, last week, a joint task force of the ruling coalition revised China's original plan sent to Nepal in 2020. The task force is said to have developed the Chinese proposal into a framework for cooperation model. The revised model has already been sent to Beijing. Whether there will be a major breakthrough on the implementation of the BRI projects during the Prime Minister’s visit still remains uncertain. While all eyes are on whether Nepal and China will sign a fresh framework agreement on BRI, Nepal is clear about its position this time around: signing any new framework for cooperation depends on whether the Chinese side will be ready to address Nepal's key concerns as pronounced in the revised draft, now in Beijing. The coalition partners – Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML – have also harmonized their position with regard to BRI, agreeing in principle that Nepal is committed to BRI, but is not in a position to implement it under a loan agreement.
Nepal-China agree to conclude BRI Implementation Plan 'soon' as...
China has been one of Nepal's key development partners over the past several decades. Nepal needs both financial and technical cooperation from China to implement the BRI projects and Nepal is serious about implementing the BRI projects. At this stage, it is only to be expected that the Nepali delegation led by Prime Minister Oli succeeds in convincing the Chinese side. Nepal's economy has virtually been in the doldrums due to the COVID-19. Nepal has always valued Chinese assistance, mainly in the areas of infrastructure development and technical cooperation. A Chinese gesture of goodwill softening its stance and considering Nepal's request positively will go a long way as both parties meet and discuss the future of the BRI projects.
