Miscellaneous
Dahal prepares to visit China for Boao conference
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is scheduled to visit China to participate in the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, which will take place in Hainan Province on March 23-26.Anil Giri
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is scheduled to visit China to participate in the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, which will take place in Hainan Province on March 23-26.
Apart from addressing the forum, the PM is also expected to visit Beijing if dates for his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping are fixed, according to senior officials.
This would be Dahal’s first visit to China after assuming office in August last year. He has already paid two visits to India during his seven months in office.
PM Dahal on Monday gave his concurrence to the visit. He also held preparatory meetings with his Cabinet colleagues, directing them to come with up concrete agendas soon to float with China during his visit.
Foreign Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi also held separate meetings with two dozen joint-secretaries of various ministries in order to finalise the agenda for the visit.
If PM’s visit to Beijing takes place as expected by the Nepali side, some follow-up agreements and understandings will be clinched, developing on the deals signed during the visit of PM KP Oli to China in March last year.
Earlier, Beijing had invited the PM to visit the northern neighbour during the One Belt One Road conference on May 14 and 15. Dahal declined to attend it citing the local election date at home.
The visit is also expected to prepare the ground for a state visit by President Xi to Nepal.
PM Dahal will leave for Boao on March 24. He will address the conference on March 25. After that, he will leave for Beijing and is expected to meet President Xi, Premier Li Keqiang and other senior leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. The Beijing part of his visit will be given official status, said an official.
Though the agendas and itinerary of his Beijing visit are yet to be finalised, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has started its preparations, said PM’s foreign relations adviser Rishi Raj Adhikari.
During PM Oli’s visit to China last year, three dozen agreements were signed, some of which are likely to be taken up during Dahal’s visit.
Some eight agreements related to road and rail connectivity, trade and energy are under discussion at various levels. The DPR for Kerung-Kathmandu-Lumbini railway and protocol of Nepal-China trade and transit agreement are the key agendas to feature during the visit, sources said.