‘Nepal-China agreements should not upset India’

Nepal’s expanding relations with China should not “irritate” India, a senior leader of the ruling CPN-UML said on Friday, asserting that Nepal would not accept anyone’s “hegemony”. “We want to establish relations with both the neighbouring countries (China and India) on the basis of equality, which should not cause irritation to any of the countries,” said Pradip Gyawali, a Central Committee member of the party.

“As an independent and sovereign country, it is upto Nepal to decide what type of relations we want to maintain with which country, and we will not accept anyone’s hegemony,” he said talking to journalists in Banke district of western Nepal.

The ruling Communist Party of Nepal hailed the agreements inked by Nepal with China during the ongoing visit of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli.

“These bilateral cooperation deals are highly significant which help achieving long-term socio-economic development goals to Nepal on its own,” the CPN-ML said in a statement. The deals have opened new gateway for diversifying Nepal’s trade, the party said underlining the need for a swift implementation of these accords.

Mr Oli arrived in China on March 20 and the two sides signed 10 deals including for a transit treaty and rail links during his talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang. The transit treaty reduces landlocked Nepal’s dependence on India as it sources most of imports and exports through Kolkata port.