Beijing/Kathmandu:

China and Nepal on Monday signed 12 agreements, including seven MoUs, to enhance bilateral cooperation in sectors including trade, road connectivity, and information technology after Premier Li Qiang and Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda” held wide-ranging talks in Beijing.

During the meeting, the two leaders comprehensively reviewed the bilateral relations and expressed satisfaction over the close and cordial ties subsisting between the two countries, according to a press release issued by the Nepal embassy in Beijing.

The two sides exchanged views on the ways to further strengthen and consolidate the mutual understanding and cooperation and give a new impetus in the front of economy, trade and people-to-people contacts, it said, two days after Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Prachanda in Hangzhou on the sidelines of the Asian Games being held in the eastern Chinese city.

Prachanda, who politically distanced from the pro-China Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) headed by KP Oli after becoming Prime Minister in December last year, made his maiden visit to China after visiting India and the US.

Following the official bilateral talks, 12 agreements were signed between the two countries, the Nepalese embassy said.

The agreements include an MoU for Cooperation between The National Planning Commission of Nepal and China’s National Development and Reform Commission; an MoU on enhancing digital economy co-operation; an MoU related to cooperation on green and low-carbon development; and an MoU on cooperation in the field of agriculture, livestock and fisheries, the release said.

The two sides also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a Joint Technical Working Group for the review and modification of the Nepal-China trade and payment agreement.

They also signed a protocol of phytosanitary requirements for the export of plant-derived medicinal materials for Chinese medicine from Nepal to China.

China and Nepal also signed MoUs on the Hilsa-Simkot Road Project and the Nepal-China Power Grid Interconnection Project (Chilime-Kerung).

The other agreements include cooperation in the fields of science, technology and innovation; and in the field of Human Resources Development, the release said.

Prachanda also met with National People’s Congress Chairman Zhao Leji during which they focused on further broadening the historical ties between Nepal and China and promoting exchange of high-level visits, it said.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Prachanda met Chinese President Xi.

“Had a fruitful meeting with Xi Jinping, President of PR China. We exchanged views on a range of issues of bilateral relations and cooperation in our mutual interests. We agreed to collaborate closely and advance Nepal-China relations to strengthen ever-lasting friendship,” Prachanda said in a post on platform X after the meeting.

Prachanda has directly flown to China from New York, where he addressed the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Hangzhou:

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday vowed to help Nepal transform itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked nation by facilitating infrastructure connectivity and transit transportation cooperation as he met Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.

Xi met Prachanda on the sidelines of the Hangzhou Asian Games in eastern China.

Prachanda, who politically distanced from the pro-China Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) headed by KP Oli after becoming Prime Minister in December last year made his maiden visit to China after visiting India and the US.

In his meeting with Prachanda, Xi who made a high-profile visit to Nepal in 2019 and announced several high-profile projects said the two countries sharing borders through Tibet made progress with the ‘Trans-Himalayan Multi-Dimensional Connectivity Network’ and other ‘Belt and Road’ projects that have “taken shape”.

He urged efforts from both sides to promote infrastructure connectivity and expand transit transportation cooperation to help Nepal transform itself from a landlocked country to a land-linked country at an early date, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.

The trans-Himalayan connectivity projects include road and rail connectivity being laid through the rugged Himalayan mountains connecting Nepal with Tibet.

As a landlocked country, much of its imports go through India. China wants to weigh in to reduce Nepal’s dependence on India as part of efforts to expand its own influence.

Critics however say that most of the Chinese projects in Nepal were stuck, including the border infrastructure as Beijing closed its borders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Nepal signed a transport-transit agreement to access seven ports in China; nine BRI projects were selected, and the “Trans-Himalayan Multi-Dimensional Connectivity Network” umbrella concept was presented, enhancing cross-border cooperation” according to Pragya Ghimire of the Institute of Foreign Affairs, Nepal.

“When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Nepal in 2019, the two countries signed seven bilateral agreements, but most were not implemented”, she wrote in an article published in the Nepalese daily, the Kathmandu Post ahead of Dahal’s eight-day visit during which he is scheduled to visit Tibet.

In his meeting with Prachanda, Xi said “The two sides should always understand and support each other on issues concerning each other’s core interests and major concerns, and constantly consolidate the political foundation of bilateral relations”.

For his part Prachanda said Xi is a visionary global leader and a good friend of all Nepalese people, Xinhua reported.

Hailing Nepal and China as friends and partners who can understand, rely on and support each other, Prachanda reiterated Nepal’s firm adherence to the one-China policy, he said.

Under the one-China policy, Nepal cracks down on Tibetan visits to India through the land borders to meet the Dalai Lama.

Both Taiwan and Tibet are inalienable parts of China’s territory, and Nepal will not allow any force to use its territory to undermine China’s sovereignty and security, Dahal told Xi adding that this position is firm and unshakable.

He noted that Nepal highly appreciates the Belt and Road Initiative and will actively participate in Belt and Road cooperation and that it will also promote the construction of the Trans-Himalayan Multi-Dimensional Connectivity Network.

Both countries were expected to sign several agreements to boost Chinese investments in Nepal, according to Nepalese media reports.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)