Nepal's Prime Minister Oli was speaking at the rally of Communist Party UML on Friday.
Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has defended his decision to visit China instead of India. He called it absurd. According to Kathmandu Times, Oli is going to China on an official visit from 2 to 6 December. He is being criticized for his decision to go to China first instead of India.
It has been a tradition in Nepal that the one who 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 any religious scripture or the Constitution or the Charter of the United Nations? Nepal is in favor of maintaining better relations with all its neighbours. We have no enmity with anyone.
Actually, this comment of Oli has come after an interview of former Prime Minister Pushp Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'. Prachanda had recently given an interview to 'The Hindu'. In this he had 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. Till now he has visited China thrice as Prime Minister.
Oli said – not going to China to ask for loan
Oli also expressed confidence in the success of his upcoming visit to China. He said, “I am not traveling suddenly, I will report myself after returning.” He said that he is not going to China to ask for loan. They want to increase the productivity of Nepal.
Last week, Oli had said regarding his visit to India that-
I am going to China first, it does not mean that we do not have good relations with India. When India imposed the blockade in (2015-16), we had taken a different stand, so they were not happy. But there is no reason to be unhappy now.
Why is Oli not coming to India? Oli's close advisers told the Kathmandu Post last month that they were hopeful that India would send an invitation to Nepal's new Prime Minister as before. But even after four months of assuming the post, no formal invitation was received from India. Usually, the Prime Minister of Nepal receives an invitation from New Delhi soon after assuming office.
KP Sharma Oli came to India for the first time as Prime Minister in February 2016. During this time PM Modi had welcomed him.
Oli came to India first after becoming PM for the first time
KP Oli became the PM of Nepal for the first time in August 2015. After this he visited India in February 2016. A month later, in March, he traveled to China. Oli has become the PM of Nepal four times so far.
He remained in office for 10 months in 2015, 40 months in 2018 and three months in 2021. Oli took oath as PM on the fourth of July this year.
However, Oli had taken many anti-India steps in his previous tenure. It was during his time that the Nepal government had released the controversial map. Apart from this, he had also given many anti-India statements. This time, it is believed that the reason behind not sending invitation to KP Sharma Oli is that there has been a change in India's policies regarding Nepal.
Airport built on China's loan, now you can appeal for loan waiver
Kathmandu Post quoted officials as saying that PM Oli will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Li Qiang during the visit. During this time, Oli will try to get the Chinese government to waive the loan given to Nepal. China has given a loan of about Rs 17 thousand crore to Nepal for Pokhara International Airport.
According to the report, earlier on August 23, Nepal's Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel had also appealed to China to waive the loan. He had said that Pokhara International Airport is not earning enough to repay its debt to China.
Pokhara International Airport was completed in January 2023. Initially international flights were operated from here. But due to lack of passengers it was limited to domestic flights.
There can also be talks on BRI project
Apart from this, Oli can also discuss BRI project during this tour. There is controversy regarding its implementation in Nepal. Nepali Congress, an ally in the government, was opposing China's expensive loan. However, now he is calm on this matter. Earlier, Prachanda government avoided taking loan from BRI, but now the present government is insisting on taking it forward.
According to reports, an agreement was signed between Nepal and China on BRI project in 2017. According to this, work was to be done on 9 projects in Nepal with Chinese money, but even after 7 years, no project has been started in Nepal yet. Actually, the previous government wanted China to give money to Nepal in the form of financial assistance instead of loan. But China was denying this.
According to a Finance Ministry official, China fears that if it gives this exemption to Nepal, then other countries will also start demanding loan waiver from it.
PM's tradition of visiting India started 64 years ago
Nepali Prime Minister Koirala with Jawaharlal Nehru.
According to BBC, for the first time, India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had sent an invitation to Nepal's Prime Minister Bisheshwar Prasad Koirala to participate in the Republic Day celebrations on January 26, 1960. At that time India had given assistance of Rs 18 crore to Nepal. In April this year, Koirala also visited China and met Chinese leader Mao Zedong.
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Nepal gave the contract for printing notes to a Chinese company: 30 crore copies of Rs 100 will be printed, 3 Indian areas are included in the map on the note.
Graphics Source: NavJivanIndia | VaskarAssets
