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At the invitation of Speaker of Nepal's House of Representatives Agni Sapkota, Chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee Li Zhanshu paid an official goodwill visit to Nepal from Monday to Thursday, Xinhua reported.

During the visit, Li met with Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, and held talks with Sapkota and Chairman of National Assembly of Nepal Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, separately. While meeting with Bhandari, Li first conveyed cordial greetings and best wishes from Chinese President Xi Jinping. Li said that China and Nepal are linked by mountains and rivers, and the two peoples have been enjoying friendly relations for generations. President Xi paid a historic state visit to Nepal in 2019, during which the two heads of state elevated the China-Nepal relationship to a strategic partnership of cooperation featuring ever-lasting friendship for development and prosperity, offering strategic guidance for the long-term development of bilateral ties, Li said. He thanked the Nepalese side for unswervingly adhering to the one-China principle, and supporting China's position on the Taiwan question and issues concerning Tibet, Xinjiang and human rights. China will continue to firmly support Nepal's efforts to safeguard its sovereign independence and territorial integrity, to achieve prosperity and strength, Li said. He welcomed the Nepalese side to actively participate in the Global Development Initiative and Global Security Initiative proposed by Xi, and congratulated Nepal for its upcoming National Day on Sept. 20. Asking Li to convey her sincere regards to Xi, Bhandari said Xi's visit to Nepal in 2019 is a milestone in the history of the two countries' bilateral relations. China has always been Nepal's most reliable good friend and partner, she said, expressing gratitude to China for its selfless help to Nepal in economic and social development, earthquake rescue and relief, and the fight against COVID-19. With its rapid development, China has become a model of global development and played an important role in safeguarding world peace and stability, she said.

Bhandari expressed hope that Nepal and China will strengthen practical cooperation in various fields and push forward the implementation of important projects, according to Xinhua.

When meeting with Deuba, Li said China has always regarded Nepal as a priority in neighborhood diplomacy. The two sides should continue to understand and support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns, and jointly uphold true multilateralism.

Li called for advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, strengthening exchanges and cooperation in trade and investment, infrastructure, customs clearance and other areas, and jointly building the Trans-Himalayan Multi-Dimensional Connectivity Network to bring tangible benefits to the people of both countries.

For his part, Deuba said that both Nepal and China uphold the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and the bilateral ties have enjoyed a solid political foundation. Nepal's development transformation needs China's support and help, he added.

Nepal is ready to strengthen friendly exchanges with China at various levels and expand practical cooperation with China in areas such as economy, people's livelihood, education, tourism and culture, so as to realize common development and prosperity, Deuba said.

In his separate meetings with Sapkota and Timilsina, Li said China's NPC is ready to work with Nepal's parliament to implement the important consensus reached between the leaders of the two countries, promote closer exchanges between their special committees as well as friendship groups, strengthen exchanges on governance experience and provide legal support for the practical cooperation between the two countries.

Sapkota said China's foreign policies have fully embodied the notion of win-win cooperation underlined by Xi, expressing his hope that the legislatures of the two countries will further their close exchanges, and promote the implementation of projects in connectivity, livelihood improvement and other areas.

Timilsina said Nepal's parliament actively supports the Belt and Road construction and is willing to learn from China's experience in economic and social development as well as in poverty alleviation.

Li briefed the Nepalese side about the upcoming 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xinhua reported. The Nepalese leaders said that as a friendly neighboring country, Nepal is happy with the great development achievements of the Chinese people under the leadership of the CPC. Under the leadership of Xi, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, China will surely be able to successfully realize the second centenary goal, they said, adding that they wish the 20th CPC National Congress a success. The Nepalese leaders unanimously reiterated that Nepal has always firmly adhered to the one-China principle and will not allow any force to use the Nepalese territory for anti-Chinese activities or harming China's interests. During his visit to Nepal, Li also met separately with KP Sharma Oli, chairman of the Community Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), and chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda.

The four former Chief Justices, who were named by suspended CJ Cholendra SJB Rana, have decided not to appear before the meeting of the Impeachment Recommendation Committee (IRC), citing that it would be against the professional integrity and the concept of independent judiciary. The Committee on Wednesday had decided, and sent a letter to former CJs—Min Bahadur Rayamajhi, Anup Raj Sharma, Kalyan Shrestha and Sushila Karki—and other sitting Supreme Court justices asking them to appear before the meeting to record their statements for investigations based on the statements given by Rana. "We sat down together and decided not to appear before the meeting. We already provided needful suggestions. We have decided that it would be against professional integrity and the concept of independent judiciary. We have provided our decision to the Committee," said Rayamajhi talking to Rastriya Samachar Samiti. The full court meeting on Thursday sent a letter to the Committee, saying that sitting justices could not be present before the Committee meeting. As a result, the Committee meeting that was scheduled for 8:30 am today was rescheduled for 1 pm today itself.

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.