PM Prachanda awakens to mend ties with China
- By Ritu Raj Subedi
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 24, 2017
Towards the end of his tenure as the Prime Minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda has woken up to “balance” Nepal relations with China. While toppling the KP Sharma Oli-led coalition to which his party, CPN-Maoist Centre, was a key partner, Prachanda had accused his predecessor of causing imbalance in the relations between India and China.
Prachanda’s undiplomatic assertion had come in the wake of a series of accords, including landmark trade and transit treaty that Oli had signed with the northern neighbor. The agreements were crucial to reducing Nepal’s dependency on India and ensuring its access to the sea. But there is little or no progress in the direction of implementing them. More than seven months elapsed since Prachanda has become the prime minister but he had no stomach for signing a protocol on China’s flagship Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative largely owing to what experts call his “India-tilted” foreign policies. A palpable disregard for their execution on the part of his government had created a sense of unease in the bilateral ties between Nepal and China.
In a fence-mending mission, Prachanda embarked on a week-long visit to China Thursday. But, there will be no bilateral agreements between the two nations due to the technical reason, according to Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat. As Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is in Australia for an official visit, no formal accord on B&R and other issues is struck.
Dr Mahat told a press meet that the Nepalese government had completed all preparations on many important agendas of bilateral cooperation and relations and the two sides would reach agreements on them in near future.
PM Prachanda will address the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2017 and call on Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. He is expected to express commitment to implementing the agreements signed with China during Oli’s visit. He will discuss the issues of transmission line, cross border economic zone and B&R with the Chinese side.
Seemingly, the visit is going to take place at Prachanda’s own initiatives without serious homework. Experts have also pointed to this shortcoming.
“We tend to see process and outcomes. But, no groundwork has adequately been carried out prior to Prachanda’s visit to China. For example, there should have been meetings between the foreign and finance secretaries from two nations to prepare the drafts for the agreements. We did not witness such developments,” said Dr Upendra Gautam, general secretary of Nepal-China Study Centre.
Dr Gautam suggests that the Nepalese PM should put up his agendas candidly no matter who will be happy or who will be angry. “He should take the national interests into account while taking up the matters of bilateral cooperation and relations,” he added.
One of the important goals of his China visit is to prove that he is not a pro-Indian politician. By shaking hands with Xi Jinping and holding brief talks with him, PM Prachanda wants to make an impression on the Nepalese people and his party cadres that he is eager to boost ties with China and place Nepal’s relations with both neighbors at an equidistance. Given his past mercurial character and open backing of divisive ethno-centric agenda of Madhes-based parties, it is hard to believe that he will be able to really rebalance Nepal’s foreign relations with the neighbors.
Prachanda’s visit is taking place ahead of the crucial local elections slated for May 14. This will be followed by the handing over the reins of government to Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba. Prachanda seems to utilize his China visit as an opportunity to rebuild his own image among his own colleagues and cadres, who think that his capitulation to Indian diktats had also damaged the party too much.
Nepal has been pursuing independent foreign policies based on the principles of Nonalignment, Pachsheel (the five principles of peaceful coexistence) and the U.N. Charter. Nepal’s relations with China have been very close and cordial since the ancient time. Nepal stands to take immense benefit from the B&R that pushes for connectivity and cooperation among the nations of Asia and Europe. It is myopic view to describe Nepal’s growing bonhomie and partnership with China as anti-Indian development. As a sovereign nation, Nepal is free to execute its sovereign foreign policies for the mutual benefits of neighbors and friendly nations. Now PM Prachanda has an opportune moment to wipe the slate clean and advance the frontiers of Sino-Nepal ties to new heights.
Ritu Raj Subedi is an associate editor of The Rising Nepal.
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
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