Awaiting Beijing’s approval of the revised BRI draft agreement, Kathmandu
A revised framework agreement for BRI collaboration has been finalized by the ruling Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML, and it has been forwarded to China for review. This development coincides with the escalation of preparations for PM KP Sharma Oli’s visit to China, which Beijing and Kathmandu formally confirmed on Friday. Chinese Premier Li Qiang has invited Prime Minister Oli to lead an 87-member team on an official visit to China from December 2 to 5. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Oli would meet with Premier Li for bilateral talks to address topics of mutual interest. The ministry said in a statement on Friday that Oli is also expected to meet with Chinese Presidents Zhao Leji and Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Speaking at the Nepal-China Business Forum, the CCPIT, and the Federation of FNCCI, the prime minister will give a keynote talk at Peking University. The signing of the BRI framework between China and Nepal is one of the main items on the prime minister’s agenda. The framework was first put up by the Chinese side in 2020 as a BRI implementation plan. After revision, the strategy paper was called the “framework for BRI cooperation” by a combined UML-Congress commission. The major coalition partners came to an agreement on the revised text after weeks of tense discussions and gave it to China on Friday for review.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Deuba congratulated the Chinese people and government on the 75th anniversary of China’s founding and the 70th anniversary of Nepal-China diplomatic relations while meeting with her Chinese counterpart Wang. She also invited Wang to visit Nepal at a time that works for him.
