Furious China shelves Xi Jinping’s visit to Nepal

By Lobsang Tenchoe

DHARAMSALA, September 7: Furious at Nepalese Prime Minister Prachanda’s planned visit to India ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s proposed plan to visit Nepal, Beijing shelves Xi’s visit to Nepal.

Chinese President Xi Jinping was scheduled to visit Nepal in October but following an invitation by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his Nepalese counterpart to visit India at the earliest, Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, decided to visit India for a three-day trip starting September 15.

Intimidated, China scrapped Xi Jinping’s visit to Nepal. Chinese ambassador to Nepal Wu Chuntai conveyed the message to the Nepalese Foreign Secretary Shankar Bairagi during a meeting held two days ago, reports The Indian Express, Sept 7.

The Chinese side expressed disappointment with Nepal over a host of issues, the Chinese are displeased with Nepal’s apparent lack of preparedness and commitment to joining its One Belt, One Road project — a framework that proposes connectivity and cooperation between China and the rest of Eurasia, the report added.

China has further accused Nepal of ‘not implementing the agreements and understandings’ the two countries reached during former Nepal Prime Minister K P Oli’s visit to Beijing earlier in March.