Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha arrived in Beijing, the capital of China, on Monday.
He is currently on an official visit to the People’s Republic of China. The Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, Chang Maoming, the Nepali Ambassador to China Bishnu Pukar Shrestha, and senior officials of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed him at the Daxing International Airport in Beijing.
During his visit, DPM Shrestha is scheduled to meet with his Chinese counterpart and high-level dignitaries from different provinces of China.
Foreign Minister Shrestha is set to have a meeting with the Central Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Wang Hunin. He will also meet with the Deputy Minister of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party, Sun Haiyan.
Deputy Prime Minister Shrestha will engage in discussions with distinguished representatives from several Chinese provinces while he is in Beijing.
Notably, there have been intensified discussions in recent days regarding Nepal’s involvement in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), with plans to finalize the implementation agreement. Despite ongoing deliberations at the highest levels, a definitive decision regarding the agreement remains pending.
It’s worth mentioning that Nepal initially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to join the BRI in 2017. However, progress has been sluggish, with no projects initiated under the initiative thus far.
Despite selecting nine projects for implementation, formal agreements between Nepal and China have yet to materialize.
