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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made it clear that there are slim chances Nepal will make a decision on the Agnipath scheme. Speaking at a regular press conference organized in Singh Durbar on Thursday, Sewa Lamsal, spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that there is less possibility that Nepal will take immediate decision on the Agnipath scheme. Saying that the issue needs national consensus, she ruled out the possibility of taking immediate decision on the issue. She further said that the government is fully busy in preparing for the elections. “The decision of the Nepal government is that the next government will take the decision on the issue,” Lamsal said. Earlier on Wednesday, Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande said that India may be forced to withdraw vacancies for enlisting soldiers from Nepal under its new Agnipath scheme in the ongoing recruitment cycle if the landlocked country does not take a decision on time, The Times of India reported.  

Wrapping up his four-day visit to Nepal, Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, returned home on Thursday. Speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota bade farewell to the Chinese Speaker at 8: 50 am at the Tribhuvan International Airport. During this visit to Nepal, he paid courtesy calls on President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. Similarly, he called on Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka, National Assembly Chairman Ganesh Timilsina and his Nepali counterpart Agni Prasad Sapkota. Likewise, he also held separate meetings with CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal. On Wednesday, he visited Bhaktapur Durbar Square. During the visit, he inquired about the pictures reflecting the art and culture of the world heritage site.

India may be forced to withdraw vacancies for enlisting soldiers from Nepal under its new Agnipath scheme in the ongoing recruitment cycle if the landlocked country does not take a decision in time, Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande said on Wednesday, The Times of India reported. Such a move by India, if it comes to that, could have adverse implications for the already delicately poised relationship with Nepal, where China has systematically made huge strategic inroads over the years. Nepal has put on hold recruitments under the Agnipath scheme, for which rallies were to commence there on August 25, in protest against the induction of soldiers for only four years without pension and ex-servicemen benefits. Replying to a question at a session in the United Service Institution of India, Gen Pande said the vacancies allocated to Nepalese Gorkhas will have to be “redistributed” to others for the time being if Kathmandu does not allow recruitment rallies as per the laid-down cutoffs dates. The Army is going to induct a total of 40,000 Agniveers in two batches after recruitment rallies and selection process around the country, and in Nepal, with the training of around 25,000 to begin in December and 15,000 in February. Even before the Agnipath scheme was announced in mid-June, the annual intake of Nepalese Gorkhas in the Indian Army had gradually come down to around 1,500 from the earlier over 4, 000 per year. The number under the Agnipath scheme is bound to be lower, according to The Times of India. As per my sense," Gen Pande said, Nepal “is unlikely to take any decision before the general elections in the country on November 20”, given that certain quarters were opposed to the Indian Army recruiting Nepalese youth. “It’s a decision for them (Nepal) to take,” the Army chief said, adding, that India had explained the “benefits” for the 75% of the young soldiers to be demolished after four years with the Seva Nidhi exit package of Rs 11.7 lakh each.  

Neighborly friendship, connectivity and common development stand out as key phrases used in both of President Xi Jinping's signed articles published by leading media outlets in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan on Tuesday, ChinaDaily reported. The two articles were published prior to Xi's Central Asia tour from Wednesday to Friday. Xi will attend the 22nd meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Heads of State in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and make state visits to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and both Central Asian nations. In his article for Kazakh media, Xi recalled the past 30 years by pointing to the major strides made in bilateral ties, remarkable results in pragmatic cooperation, extensive infrastructure links built between the two countries, and their flourishing friendship. "We are friends to trust and partners to count on for each other, and our peoples always stand shoulder to shoulder with each other," Xi wrote. He envisioned the two nations' further teamwork in bilateral and international contexts to boost growth, common security and global governance. China would like to partner with Kazakhstan to remain pioneers in Belt and Road cooperation and cultivate new sources of growth such as artificial intelligence, big data, digital finance, e-commerce and green energy, he wrote. In his article for Uzbek media, Xi said the two nations are "good friends sharing close affinity", "good partners pursuing common development", a "good example of dialogue between civilizations" and "good brothers supporting each other in times of need". Bilateral trade exceeded $8 billion last year and "is on course to reach the $10 billion goal set for 2022", Xi wrote, according to ChinaDaily. "The two countries have rendered mutual support on issues concerning each other's core interests, supported each other's implementation of development strategies, drawn upon each other's experience of reform and opening-up, and injected positive energy into regional development," he wrote. The Central Asia trip is "China's most important head-of-state diplomatic event ahead of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China", Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Tuesday. Mao noted that both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are friendly neighbors and comprehensive strategic partners of China, and they are key countries on the routes of the Belt and Road. The state visits will introduce new blueprints, goals and impetus for China's bilateral ties with the two countries, showing that China's bilateral ties with the two countries are entering a new phase of development, she added. In both of his articles, Xi highlighted the fact that next year marks the 10th anniversary of his putting forward the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative — a key component of the landmark Belt and Road Initiative — in Kazakhstan in 2013. The BRI "has become a platform for international cooperation that is open, inclusive and mutually beneficial, promotes win-win cooperation and is a global public good widely welcomed by the international community", he noted. He called for joint efforts to further put into action the Global Development Initiative — which he proposed last year and which has gained support from over 100 countries — so as to give impetus to world economic recovery. In his article published in Uzbekistan, Xi also spoke highly of Uzbekistan's role as chairman of the SCO Samarkand Summit this year. He expressed his confidence that, with the joint efforts of all sides, the Samarkand Summit will produce "fruitful outcomes" and make a greater contribution to building an even closer SCO community with a shared future and to regional peace, stability, development and prosperity, ChinaDaily reported. At the SCO summit, Xi will exchange views with other attending leaders on "all-around cooperation within the SCO framework as well as major international and regional issues", according to Mao, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. The SCO's role has been highlighted in securing regional security stability and promoting countries' development and prosperity amid profound changes in the global situation and the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.