KATHMANDU, Jan 14: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli's visit to India is mired in uncertainty as the PM's upcoming foreign visit will be to countries other than India.
In a meeting of the International Relations and Tourism Committee of the House of Representatives on Monday, Foreign Minister Arju Rana indicated that the Prime Minister's upcoming foreign visit will be to countries other than India.
In the discussion held by the committee on Monday regarding the Prime Minister's latest foreign visit, Foreign Minister Rana did not discuss his possible visit to India. She said that the Prime Minister's upcoming visit in the near future may be to countries other than India. She announced this after Committee Chairman Rajkishore Yadav asked her which countries the Prime Minister would visit in the future.
The International Relations and Tourism Committee had called a meeting on November 17 to discuss the Prime Minister's upcoming visit to China even before his visit to China. However, the meeting was postponed as there was no government representative in the committee.
Memory of Rose
After that, PM Oli led a Nepali delegation on a four-day official visit from December 2 to December 5 at the invitation of Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang. Immediately after returning from his visit to China on December 20, the PM told journalists at the Tribhuvan International Airport that arrangements for his visit to India should be made. He had continued his efforts through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to create that environment. Foreign Minister Rana had also reached Delhi and tried to arrange the Prime Minister's visit to India.
Foreign Minister Rana, who returned from her visit to China on December 20, left for a visit to Europe on the 22nd. She was scheduled to return to Nepal from Europe on December 5, but she suddenly left for India from Europe. However, since there was no final decision on the PM's visit to India, the issue was gradually fading out. After that, in the UML secretariat meeting on December 26, Prime Minister Oli commented that there was no need to continue discussing the visit to India.
During the four-day official visit to China, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Cooperation Framework, the exchange of letters on the Tokha-Chhahare tunnel route, the Memorandum of Understanding on Nepal-China trade promotion, the exchange of certificates on the completion of the reconstruction of the nine-story Basantapur Durbar, the protocol on the export of processed meat, the Memorandum of Understanding on development projects, the Memorandum of Understanding on economic and technical cooperation, the exchange of letters on cash assistance, the Memorandum of Understanding on volunteer Chinese language teachers, and the Memorandum of Understanding on communication technology between Nepal Television and the Chinese Media Group were signed. It is being speculated that India is unhappy with Nepal after the 10 agreements with China.
In the committee's meeting on Monday, a Congress lawmaker raised a question about the signing of the BRI by taking a loan. Issues such as calling the PM to the parliamentary committee and asking about the BRI agreement and providing BRI documents officially were also raised in the committee.
Congress's Bimalendra Nidhi said that the confusion would be cleared by calling Prime Minister Oli to the parliament and parliamentary committees to get information about his visits to the US and China. "Before the visit, Prime Minister Oli had committed not to agree on anything other than grants in the Congress-UML meeting. However, during the visit to China, an agreement was finally reached to take a loan under the BRI at the initiative of the Prime Minister," Nidhi said.
The Foreign Minister, however, clarified that the word 'loan' does not appear in the BRI agreement. She also informed that China has committed to playing a role in making Nepal's Pokhara International Airport operational.
Earlier, when he arrived in New York, USA, to attend the 79th General Assembly of the United Nations, a sideline meeting was held between Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and his Indian counterpart Modi on the morning of September 22 (Nepali time). Various issues of bilateral relations were discussed during the half-hour meeting. Foreign Minister Rana had said that Indian Prime Minister Modi had said that he would visit Nepal soon. After becoming Prime Minister, Oli participated in the United Nations General Assembly from September 20 to 30, 2024. Although the meeting showed signs of improving relations, it seems that the agreement made with China may have further affected the relations.
