Dr. Khadka to visit China from August 9-11

Kathmandu, Aug. 5

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Narayan Khadka, is embarking on an entourage to China from August 9-11, 2022.

He is visiting the northern neighbour for the first time at the invitation of Wang Yi, State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Minister for Foreign Affairs (MoFA) informed in a statement on Friday.

"The two ministers will hold delegation-level bilateral talks, leading their respective delegations on August 10, 2022 in Qingdao, China," read the statement. Minister Wang will host Dr. Khadka and his South Korean counterpart Park Jin on the same day, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying informed at a press conference on Friday, Reuters reported.

She stated that Nepal and China are good neighbours and partners in development. Since Minister Dr. Khadka's visit is happening within a year of his Chinese counterpart Wang, it has further strengthened the mutual trust between the two countries, Hua said.

State Councilor Wang will host a banquet in honour of Minister Dr. Khadka and the members of the delegation. Minister Dr. Khadka will return Kathmandu on August 11.

He is visiting China at a time when tensions between the United States of America and China have heightened because of the visit of the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan.

Meanwhile, Spokesperson for the MoFA, Sewa Lamsal, said in a press briefing at the ministry on Friday that Nepal supports the one China policy – that considers Taiwan as the part of the latter.

Nepal has always promoted international cooperation and peace, she said.

Earlier, in March this year, Minister Wang had concluded a three-day visit to Nepal and met President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and leader of the parties in ruling coalition and opposition.

During his visit, Nepal and China had signed a nine-point agreement including the projects such as conducting the feasibility study of cross-border power grid connection, agreement for economic and technical cooperation for the feasibility study of inter-country railway project, maintenance of Arniko Highway (third phase), and cooperation in the railway sector.

They have also agreed on facilitating Nepali products to China and vaccine support. 

 Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 6 August 2022.