China is organizing the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) from March 25 to 28, in Qionghai City, South China’s Hainan Province. It is an annual event at which government officials, heads of international organizations, business leaders and scholars converge to discuss the most pressing issues of the day. However, there will not be high-level participation from Nepal as Nepal’s Ambassador to China Krishna Prasad Oli has been told to represent Nepal.

Last year, then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s foreign affairs advisor Rupak Sapkota had attended the program. In the past, there used to be participation of the prime minister or president but nowadays Nepal is sending low-key officials. Officials say as Nepal’s top political leadership snubbed the invitation, China has not shown interest to lend the invitation to the top political leadership.

Launched in 2002, the forum has witnessed Asia’s regional integration as it pulled through the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the SARS epidemic in 2003, the global financial crisis in 2008 and the recently concluded Covid-19 pandemic.

In the first conference, King Birendra was invited in 2001 and in 2015 then President Ram Baran Yadav represented Nepal.  Now, the region once again finds itself on the cusp of change. “Our world is in the middle of a pivotal transition, where disruptive shifts are profoundly reshaping the international order,” BFA Secretary General Zhang Jun said at a press conference in Beijing. “What this means is that the BFA, as a high-level platform dedicated to dialogue and cooperation, now stands at a new horizon, where it is charged with both greater expectations and heavier responsibilities,” he added.