Experts stress better homework to reap more benefits from Nepal-China cooperation

Kathmandu, Dec. 12

Nepal's poor homework in the preparation of agenda including extensive list of projects, and short time frame negotiation has resulted in poor bargaining opportunities with China during the recent visit of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda in September this year, said lawmakers and foreign policy experts. 

Nepal needs a departure in terms of economic relations with China but the visit failed to make tangible progress in this regard, they said while speaking at a policy dialogue organised by Centre for Social Inclusion and Federalism (CESIF) in Kathmandu on Tuesday.

Shishir Khanal, another Member of the IRTC, suggested that Nepal needs to take into account the agenda that Nepal wished to talk about with China, there were not clear objectives of the visit.

"There were lacking in our part. This visit couldn't offer any turning point to Nepal in terms of diplomatic and economic fronts. We were not serious while choosing and finalising the agenda of the visit," he said.

According to him, the visit couldn't crate a stir neither in the bilateral relations nor in trade and investment.

"We also need to observe the coverage given to the visit by the native media in China. Meanwhile, there were no clear updates of information regarding the achievement of the visit," he said.

Nepal also failed to negotiate and reach into favourable outcomes on issues related to trade imbalance, effective implementation of Transit and Transport Agreeement and other issues that was agreed in the 2019 joint statement during Chinese President Xi Jinping's Nepal visit, reads a discussion note prepared by the organiser.  

Speaking on the same line, Dr. Minendra Rijal, a Leader of Nepali Congress and former minister, said that Nepal needs to set priority in terms of its essential and peripheral needs such as railway to Raxaul or Tibet, while also making sure that infrastructure connecting China and Nepal are developed with either grant or concessional loan.

"We initiate or announce any project, such as the Budhigandaki Hydroelectricity Project, at a whim and seek international support from partners like India and China to develop it but ultimately fail to secure investment," he suggested, "Cross-border transmission should be created as a preparation for the future export of electricity to China."

According to him, Nepal needs an immense support from its neighbours including China and international community in emergency response and disaster prevention.

Raj Kishor Yadav, Chairperson of the International Relations and Tourism Committee (IRTC) at the House of Representatives of the Federal Parliament, said that preparations were poor for the visit which made it like a pilgrimage.  

 Dr. Madhu Raman Acharya, former Foreign Secretary and Ambassador, said that except Rasuwagadhi-Kerung Transmission Line Project, there were not new agenda in the visit.

According to him, party to party relation between Nepal and China is counterproductive as the foreign policy is exercised between countries not between political parties of the concerned nations.

"Nepal-China relation features trivialism where you sign as many agreements as possible. The two countries have signed about 70 agreements in the recent past. None of them except transit treaty has been implemented so Nepal remains to be benefitted from them," said Dr. Acharya.

Likewise, stating that no agreement has been implemented including projects under the Belt and Road Initiatives (BRI), he said that China rapidly develops the projects of its interests in Nepal but same doesn't happen with other projects, for example of Rasuwagadhi road.

"Opening Simkot-Hilsa border should be Nepal's priority it will promote tourism, business and infrastructure development in Karnali province," he said.

A note prepared by the CESIF read that there was no progress regarding the BRI during the visit. "The agreement on the BRI implementation plan was much anticipated in the visit, however, o consensus was reached, given Nepal's stand to implement BRI projects on grants and Chinese insistence for loans for BRI implementation," read the note.

Similarly, Lal Shankar Ghimire, former Secretary of the Government of Nepal and advisor to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, said that Nepal is the most sensitive neighbour for China that borders with 14 countries and nine territories. "We have no idea about the BRI, it will not come here because there would be a dead end as India is out of the BRI network.

Tsering Lhamu Lama, a Member of the IRTC of the HoR, said that discussion on opening border points with China is ongoing and agreement for opening some has been signed. Of the 14 border points, Nepal and China have agreed to open five for the time being.

She stressed on balanced bilateral relations with India and China.

CESIF Executive Chairperson of CESIF and former Ambassador Vijay Kant Karna suggested that Nepal needs to keep the list of top priority agenda short, keep track of what Nepal has already negotiated in the past, and ensure that China does not backtrack from its previous commitment.

"We need to make sure that we have a consistent agenda and consistent priority. A comparison of agenda during Chinese President Xi's visit to Nepal in 2019 and PM Prachanda's visit in 2023 shows that Nepal's priorities are inconsistent," read the discussion paper. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 13 December 2023.