Infrastructure key agenda for Xi’s visit

X:/FM Returns

Kathmandu, Oct. 2

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said that Nepal had been preparing to discuss about highways, railways, international border points and new world-standard university with China during the upcoming visit of Chinese President Xi Jingping. 

“Although the date of visit has not been finalised, we are in continuous dialogue for the preparations,” he said upon his arrival at the Tribhuvan International Airport after participating in the 74^th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York. 

He said that the country was preparing for strong economic partnership with China so that both the countries could benefit from each other. “Nepal now adopts the policy of economic partnership and cooperation with its both neighbours, India and China,” said Minister Gyawali. 

According to him, the top level visit from China to Nepal will boost not only the bilateral cooperation and strengthen the relationship but also increase the economic exchange and mutual confidence.

FM Gyawali said that the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (ACD), a loose group of 35 Asian countries, had agreed to rethink about increasing the pan-Asian cooperation. 

“Apart from a couple of regional networks like the ASEAN, most of the Asian groupings are weak and have minimal impact on regional and global issues. However, this time the ACD has agreed to find areas of cooperation and take them forward in a leadership of any one member country,” he said. 

He had participated in the informal Ministerial meeting of ACD organised on the sidelines of the UNGA where he stressed on such cooperation. He had also emphasized on concrete activities in order to create tangible results to the people of the region.

FM Gyawali expressed serious concerns over the weakening status of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

“As the chairman of the regional cooperation Nepal organised the informal meeting of the SAARC Foreign ministers. But the meeting witnessed the shadow of the disputes between two member countries,” he said. However, delegations of all member states participated in other deliberations which was a positive gesture, he added. 

In the meeting, Nepal had said that strong cooperation among member states was required to make SAARC vibrant. Highlighting the prospects of the SAARC, FM Gyawali had said that robust cooperation was required for addressing various challenges facing the region, such as poverty, inequality, underdevelopment, climate change and natural disasters. 

FM Gyawali held separate bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of Venezuela, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Bhutan, Finland, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Ireland and Mozambique where he talked about enhancing economic cooperation with those countries, investment promotion, technology transfer and enhancing cooperation at multilateral platforms on the issues of mutual interest. 

He also held meetings with the General Secretary of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Vladimir Norov, General Secretary of the UN Antonio Guterres. Nepal established formal bilateral relationship with Ghana on the occasion of the UNGA.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 3 October 2019.