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Nepalese Foreign Minister Narayan Khadkar returned from China a happy man. Beijing has offered Nepal a huge grant in exchange for assurances that Kathmandu will adhere to the “one China” policy, Indian Express have learned.
At the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi, Kadkar led an 11-member delegation to China earlier this week.
After Khadkar returned to China, a press release issued by Nepal’s foreign ministry stated that Khadkar and Yi discussed strengthening “bilateral trade, connectivity, health, tourism, agriculture, education” and other issues. It added that China will also provide funds and equipment for Nepal’s Covid control mechanism.
However, Beijing has also assured Nepal that it will provide 800 million yuan ($118 million) in grants this financial year for priority projects in Kathmandu, the sources said. This is in addition to the 350 million yuan pledged by Xi Jinping during his visit to Nepal in October 2019.
China also pledged to “unconditionally defend Nepal’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity,” the source said.
The source added that Khadkar convinced the Chinese side that Nepal was “irreversibly” firmly sticking to the “one China policy”. Furthermore, regarding China’s concerns about the disproportionate presence of the West and U.S.-Nepal relations, Khadkar is believed to have assured Yi Jianlian that Nepal’s cooperation with Western countries, especially the United States, is for development and has no security or military component. To reassure China, the two countries also decided to expand cooperation in the field of disaster management.
Nepal has also assured China that it will not allow any outside power to conduct activities against China on its territory, keeping in mind the sensitivity of Tibet, the source added.
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Nepal last month planned to participate in the National Partnership Program, an exchange program between the Nepal Army and the U.S. National Guard, but gave up at the last minute after domestic protests and Chinese reservations.
Moreover, despite the reticence of officials, Nepal appears to have agreed to move forward with China’s Belt and Road Initiative and has pledged to implement previous understandings and prioritised agreements.
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