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Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha, who is currently on a China visit, suffered a heart attack on Wednesday.

A CPN (Maoist Center) leader said that he has been admitted to a Beijing-based hospital after experiencing heart-related complications.

“He suffered a sudden heart attack on Wednesday. He was rushed to a hospital. Now his condition is normal,” the leader said.

According to a source, Minister Shrestha suffered a mild heart attack.

He reached Beijing on Monday evening to attend the 3rd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation at the invitation of Chinese Minister of Ecology and Environment, Wang Xiaohong.

China had organized the Belt and Road Forum for the first time in 2017 and second time in 2019.

Nepal and China have signed a 12-point agreement and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Monday.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is on a week-long official visit to China, and his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang, the Prime Minister’s Secretariat said.

According to the Secretariat, Nepali and Chinese officials signed the agreements on human resources, Hilasa Simikot road, road infrastructure with China, support for improving digital economy, agriculture, livestock and herbal medicines among other issues.

An agreement has also been reached to form a joint technical working group to study trade and payments between Nepal and China.

The Centre for Social Inclusion & Federalism (CESIF) held a seminar on ‘The Evolving Nepal-China Relationship: Navigating Challenges & Seizing Opportunities,’ at Marriott Hotel in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

The seminar was divided into three panels: ' Nepal-China Relations: Current Status,’ ‘Looking to the Future: Chinese Initiatives, BRI, GSI & National Security,’ and ‘Politics of Bilateral Relations.’

The seminar was timed to coincide with the Prime Minister's upcoming visit to Beijing this month.

Vijay Kant Karna, Executive Chair at CESIF, began the discussion program with a welcome remark. He pondered the Prime Minister's impending visit and the weight it carries for Nepal-China diplomatic relations.

“The Prime Minister’s visit is seen as an important occasion to resolve the existing issues and strengthen the bilateral ties. It is expected that PM Dahal will hold a discussion on the various avenues of bilateral relationships, including the long-stalled BRI projects and other issues of economic and bilateral cooperation,” he said, reads a statement issued by Centre for Social Inclusion & Federalism.

“While PM Dahal will have a hard time managing the diversified priorities of the parties in the ruling coalition back home while dealing with China, PM Dahal’s visit is expected to bring forth some tangible benefits to strengthen the bilateral relationship and resolve existing differences.”

The first session on ‘Nepal-China Relations: Current Status,’ brought together Ambassador Madhu Raman Acharya, former ambassador of Nepal, Purushottam Ojha, former secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies and Avasna Pandey, Lecturer at the Department of International Relations and Diplomacy, Tribhuvan University.

The session was moderated by author and researcher Amish Mulmi.

The session brought to the limelight Nepal’s need to focus on trans-border connectivity for improved cross-border trade, improved B2B movement, and better negotiations through varied forums. "China has been shifting its goalposts regarding its engagement in Nepal.

Earlier China’s engagement was confined largely within arenas of security and trade but now China wants Nepal to be a part of its diverse initiatives – this is directed at realizing its larger geopolitical aims and ambitions," Ambassador Madhu Raman Acharya said.

The second session on ‘Looking to the Future: Chinese Initiatives, BRI, GSI & National Security’ brought together General Gaurav Shumsher JB Rana (Retd.), former Chief of Army Staff at Nepal Army, Ambassador Dinesh Bhattarai, former ambassador of Nepal, Chandra Dev Bhatta, Political Scientist and Public Intellectual and Anil Giri, senior journalist at The Kathmandu Post.

The session was moderated by Ambassador Vijay Kant Karna, Executive Chair at CESIF.

The session brought to attention China’s new global initiatives and their implications for Nepal.

“In the current geopolitical context, Nepal would be wise to stick to its Constitution's principles of Panchasheel and non-alignment. We must be cautious but also flexible in our foreign policy; flexible being the keyword.” Gen. Gaurav Shamsher JB Rana (Retd.) expressed.

The final session on the ‘Politics of Bilateral Relations,’ brought together Shisir Khanal, Member of Parliament, representing Rastriya Swatantra Party, Dr Minendra Rijal, former Defense Minister of Nepal and Nepali Congress leader, Dr Lila Nyaichyai, Professor at the Tribhuvan University and the former member of the Constituent Assembly and Hari Sharma, Executive Director at Purak Asia and a Public Intellectual.

The session was moderated by Dr Govinda Raj Pokharel, former Vice Chairperson of the National Planning Commission and the Central Committee member of the Nepali Congress.

The panelists discussed the necessity to capitalize upon the Nepal-China relations whilst understanding China’s regional and global position.

“There has been a significant shift in the geopolitical landscape when compared to that of the 1950s, 60s – so, drawing parallels between these different contexts to analyze the contemporary geopolitical situation wouldn’t be so apt- and it doesn’t help in our diplomatic endeavors either.” Khanal shared.

The Prime Minister’s upcoming visit to Beijing was agreed by all to be a good opportunity to improve bilateral ties.

Panelists also shared a few priorities for the visit, including the implementation of previous agreements, negotiation for trade facilitation, upliftment of unilateral border control of different border points, and FDI traction.

The seminar event brought together noted intellectuals, academicians, politicians, bureaucrats, and journalists.

Centre for Social Inclusion & Federalism (CESIF) is a not-for-profit, autonomous, and independent private research institution serving the public interest, with significant independence from any interest group. Our mission is to help the government create a democratic, secure, and just society by making informed and transparent decisions about policies and practices.

While conducting foreign policy, we should seek to strike a balance between our two neighbors—India and China. We can change friends but not neighbors. The onus is also on us to maintain a cordial and balanced relationship with both of our neighbors. We have to be able to convince the two neighbors about our concerns and hear out their core concerns as well.  Keeping a balanced relationship with two of our neighbors is the only way to move forward.

As for electricity trade, India is the only market for our electricity, so we have to be flexible while negotiating with India on this issue. 

As India is the only buyer of our electricity, we have to heed its concerns too. Because of this constraint, we have some difficulties and compulsions when it comes to selling electricity. 

We have to keep our national interests at the center while conducting foreign policy. 

The author is a former PM and president of the Nepali Congress 

Once again, the map controversy has surfaced but this time around it’s not between Nepal and India but between China and Nepal. The fresh controversy followed as China issued what it calls its ‘standard map’, which does not include Nepal’s new official map. 

China’s new map has created uproar not only in its neighborhood but much beyond, with the list of countries objecting to the map increasing by the day. In the case of Nepal, the latest map controversy seems to have emerged partly from the way governments dealt with this sensitive issue in the past. 

The recent statement from Nepal’s Foreign Minister indicates that the new map was not officially submitted or communicated to countries including China. If that is the case, it shows double standards on the part of Nepali politicians, who have the habit of doing politics even on serious issues like foreign policy and national security.

The author is a geopolitical analyst 

The post-Cold War unipolar world has been shaken badly by the 9/11 attacks and the war on terrorism that followed achieved partial success leading to the compulsive pullout of the US forces from Afghanistan. The relationship between the US and China remained strained due to the trade war and the conflicting interests over Taiwan and the South China Sea. The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war does not see any prospects of settlement soon, thus Ukraine is bound to suffer and face more destruction. Strategic mistakes were made by both Russia and Ukraine, but NATO gained valuable intelligence about the Russian war capability. African countries have been facing civil wars leading to major humanitarian crises and military coups in some of these countries signal no good days on the horizon. The ever-changing geo-political dynamics of this century are thus becoming more challenging.

Asia seems relatively quiet and peaceful because many of the volatile areas and issues have been back burnered. In spite of several border skirmishes, India-China trade continues to boom. The cross-border terrorist activities in Kashmir and the long outstanding border issues of India with both China and Pakistan have led to a strained relationship between them. The existing deadlock is not likely to be resolved soon, thus making the Himalayan region a flashpoint for potential conflicts which may even push the three nuclear nations to a war.

Now, is there any possibility to avoid or at least mitigate such a scenario? The answer would be both ‘Yes’ and ‘No’. China has an all-weather good relationship with Pakistan whereas it remains only fair weather with India; and looking back to their historical enmity and existing animosity the answer most likely would be a ‘No’. However, this projection based mainly on their geopolitical and strategic perspectives may not be that accurate if the perceived notion is examined from the economic perspective. A million-dollar question thus would be—what are such possibilities?

National aspirations

India and China both have their own national aspirations. India wants to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) and become a superpower over time. India qualifies for this because of her economic and technological advancement. China wants to expand its influence globally through the Bridge and Road Initiative (BRI) and become the first economic power well before the mid-21st century. This entails keeping herself safe against containment from superpowers and avoiding direct conflicts. These national aspirations could be the motivating and driving factors for both India and China to come closer. 

International financial institutions have projected that the 21st century will be the Asian century. The Chinese and Indian economies have already left the US economy behind in terms of their Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), nevertheless, the USA is still the number one in both economic and military power and will remain so for some time to come.  However, China and India are likely to supersede the US economy soon. Besides, the US economy would be affected by the de-dollarization initiative and the possible introduction of BRICS currency. Now, what happens if India and China closely cooperate and collaborate for larger economic interests and ally together for the realization of their national aspirations? If this materializes, the realization of the 21st century as the Asian century will happen earlier. India and China together will be the biggest economic and military power in the world and will be in the position to dictate global terms, thus ending the era of a unipolar world. 

Here, a hypothesis ‘the Western world would neither allow China and India to ally nor would they allow them to go to a war’, could be put to test. If they ally, they together will dominate the world and if they go to war, the possibility of a nuclear conflict cannot be denied; and both scenarios will be inconsistent with the interest of the Western power.

In the present scenario, could India ever become a permanent member of the UNSC? Will the best diplomatic and calculated strategic relationship with the USA help India realize her national aspiration? The existing defense dependency on Russian military hardware (more than 70 percent) and the relationship persisting since the Cold War period would not allow India to deviate from its basic strategic line for some time. Since Russia and China are strategically close and aligned, aligning with these two superpowers is likely to help India realize its national aspiration, which is unlikely by a piggyback from the USA. 

Therefore, the national aspirations and huge economic interest are likely to outweigh the military interest and competition, thus encouraging China and India to come closer. Through such cooperation and collaboration, the BRI gets the opportunity to access the Indian and South Asia markets which would, amongst other advantages, help China for the realization of its national aspiration.

Now a million-dollar question arises: Who would or can make this happen? Obviously, this will not happen on its own and some country or statesman has to take initiatives to facilitate the process. Here comes the possible role of Nepal and some of its acceptable statesmen who could lead a Track-II initiative. Nepal could play the role of a lynchpin between India and China. The BRI could be made a tool and the BRI passing through Nepal would bring India and China closer to materializing their national aspirations. The contentious issue between India and Pakistan would become a non-issue once China and India align; many of the outstanding and contentious issues between the three countries would fall in place through an amicable way out. The end result would be the peace that would prevail in the volatile South Asian Himalaya and Trans-Himalaya region as a whole.

In linear thinking, this proposal not only looks like wishful thinking but an absurd one. The issues are not as simple as debated above but also are not unachievable. Since most complicated issues generally have simple solutions, so could this be. The matching chemistry between the present leaderships of China and India could be an opportunity for turning this thinking into reality.

The author is Brig Gen (Retd) of Nepali Army and General Secretary of the Nepal Institute for Strategic Studies

The Tatopani checkpoint where Nepal shares a border with its northern neighbor China is to remain open from Friday.

The Tatopani checkpoint wherein human mobility has been halted for long will come into operation tomorrow.

A meeting between the Chinese and Nepali officials held at Lhasa on Tuesday decided to permit movement of the general public through the border point, informed Chief District Officer Ramesh Neupane. "We have made all necessary preparations from the Nepal side", he said.

The movement of goods carrying vehicles resumed three months back in the bordering checkpoint that has remained closed since the 2015 earthquake.

CDO Neupane further said that the human mobility through the border point will remain open from Friday onward.

According to him, locals from Sindhupalchowk district will receive a pass having a year permit for mobility through the border point.

The government has said that it would adopt a diplomatic channel to talk about the map issue with China.

China on Aug 28 released the 2023 edition of the standard map of China, which continues to show the entire State of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region with China’s border, provoking India. India has reacted furiously to the map.

In a separate context, China, which shares its border with Nepal, has demonstrated Nepal’s old map. Nepal adopted a new political map in 2020 incorporating the Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura. The Chinese move, according to experts, indicates that China is yet to accept Nepal’s new political map. Experts are suggesting the government take up this issue with China diplomatically.

On Wednesday, Minister for Communications and Information Technology Rekha Sharma said the government would adopt a diplomatic channel to talk about the map China released recently. During a news conference, Minister Sharma who is also the spokesperson for the government said, "Our official map is pointed at the border and was passed by parliament unanimously. We need to talk through a diplomatic channel in which context China made its map public." 

In 2015, India and China had agreed to expand the border trade at Nathu La, Lipulekh Pass and Shipki La without consultations with Nepal. Later, Nepal’s government strongly reacted to the agreement writing diplomatic notes to both India and China. 

Meanwhile, India has lodged a strong protest through the diplomatic channels with the Chinese side on the new map.

CPN (Maoist Center) General Secretary Dev Gurung returned home from China on Thursday.

Gurung, who had left for the northern neighbor to arrange Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s China visit, returned home by the Tibet Airlines flight today.

According to a source, Prime Minister Dahal sent him to China to discuss possible agendas of his China visit.

Gurung returned home after holding discussions with the leaders of the Chinese Community Party and diplomatic agencies.

Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said that Prime Minister Dahal will visit China after wrapping up his India visit. But at the last hour, the Prime Minister has decided to visit China after the US visit.

Prime Minister Dahal will leave for the US on September 16.

He will leave for New York to take part in the United Nations General Assembly on that day.

Prime Minister Dahal will leave for China on September 21 after addressing the United Nations General Assembly.

It has been learnt that Prime Minister Dahal will meet the President, Prime Minister and the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party during his China visit.

The Prime Minister has been saying that there will be a power trade agreement during the visit.

He said that an agreement has already been made to connect the cross border transmission line in Rasuwa-China border.

Maoist Vice-Chairman Agni Sapkota had left for China before Dev Gurung.

Vice-President Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav is leaving on a six-day visit to China on Monday afternoon.

The Vice-President is set to attend the 7th China South Asia Exposition and 27th China Kunming Import and Export Fair, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

Yadav will lead a Nepali delegation to the event to be held in Kunming on August 16-20.  He is scheduled to address the official opening of the 7th China-South Asia Expo on August 16.

The Vice-President will board the China Eastern Airlines regular flight to Kunming from Tribhuvan International Airport at 4:25 pm, said the MoFA.

Vice-President Yadav will be accompanied by his spouse Champadevi Yadav, Secretary at the Office of Vice President Madhusudan Burlakoti, his personal secretary Satrudhan Yadav, personal doctor Bikram Silwal and two security personnel, it is said.

He will return home on August 21.

The death toll from recent flooding in and around China’s capital Beijing has risen to 33, including five rescuers, while 18 other people remain missing, officials said, as much of the country’s north remains threatened by ongoing heavy rainfall, Aljazeera reported.

Record downpours have hit China’s capital in recent weeks, damaging infrastructure and deluging swaths of the city’s suburbs and surrounding areas.

Officials said on Wednesday that 33 people had died and 18 others were missing after the recent bad weather in Beijing, mainly due to flooding and buildings collapsing.

Days of heavy rain hit areas in Beijing’s mountainous western outskirts especially hard, causing the collapse of 59,000 homes, damage to almost 150,000 others and flooding of more than 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of cropland, the city’s government said on Wednesday.

Many roads were also damaged, along with more than 100 bridges, Xia Linmao, a Beijing vice mayor, said at a news conference, according to Aljazeera.

“I would like to express my deep condolences to those who died in the line of duty and the unfortunate victims,” Linmao told reporters, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, reporting from Beijing, said Typhoon Doksuri hit China more than a week ago but the extent of the devastation brought by flooding and building collapses is emerging only now.

“This is the worst natural disaster to high the capital in years. The last time a storm of this scale occurred was in 2012,” Yu said, noting that areas hit hardest more than a decade ago – when almost 80 people died – were against the worst affected by the recent typhoon.

“Difficult questions are now being raised as to why lessons from that previous storm were not learned, and why buildings and roads were not reinforced, and why this damage has happened yet again,” Yu said.

Other parts of China have also seen heavy flooding, with many reported killed by flood waters across northern China, which has been battered by heavy rain since late July, disrupting the lives of millions.

Officials in Beijing said last week that 147 deaths or disappearances last month were caused by natural disasters. Of those, 142 were caused by flooding or other geological calamities, China’s Ministry of Emergency Management said, Aljazeera reported.

In Hebei province, which neighbours Beijing, 15 were reported to have died and 22 were missing. And in northeastern Jilin, 14 died and one person was reported missing on Sunday.

Further north in Heilongjiang, state media reported that dozens of rivers had seen water levels rise above “warning markers” in recent days.

China’s deadliest and most destructive floods in recent history were in 1998, when 4,150 people died, most of them along the Yangtze River.

In 2021, more than 300 people died in the central province of Henan. Record rainfall inundated the provincial capital of Zhengzhou in July of that year, turning streets into rushing rivers and flooding at least part of a subway line.

Other areas in China are also suffering from the scorching summer heat and drought, which is threatening residents’ health and crop harvest.

The Chinese government is to give 21 drones to the Nepal Police.

A Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday decided to accept 21 drones provided by the Chinese government.

The Public Security Department of Tibet has decided to provide 21 drones to the Home Ministry.

Chinese ambassador Chen Song on May 8 had informed Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha the Chinese government had decided to provide the drones to Nepal.

The Chinese government had decided to provide drones to Nepal government to monitor the border area.

The Home Ministry is preparing to give the drones to the security agency.

Centre for Social Inclusion and Federalism (CESIF) organized a national seminar to launch its publication – China’s Emergence in Nepal’s Infrastructure: Status, Issues and Challenges and shared key findings of the report for wider civic engagement and discussion.

The book, authored by noted author Amish Raj Mulmi, senior journalist, Anil Giri, co-founder of The Araniko Project Raunab Singh Khatri, CESIF’s Research and Program Coordinator Arpan Gelal and CESIF’s researcher Milan Acharya was launched at the Square Hotel today, reads a statement issued by the CESIF.

The book launch was followed by the discussion on the theme, ‘China’s Emergence in Nepal’s Infrastructure: Status, Issues and Challenges.’

The seminar brought together distinguished panelists—former Economic Development advisor to the Prime Minister of Nepal and (Ret.) Secretary of the Government of Nepal Lal Shanker Ghimire, former Urban Secretary of the Government of Nepal Deependra Nath Sharma, Director of the Center for Governance and Academic Affairs at IIDS Dr Sucheta Pyakuryal, former senior External Affairs Officer at the World Bank, Rajib Upadhya.

The panel was moderated by Research Advisor at CESIF Ajaya Bhadra Khanal.

The discussion brought into account the nexus of corruption that Chinese infrastructure projects had built, their inclination towards party-to-party relations, especially the left political forces, and the need for Nepal’s political and bureaucratic front to work together upon its negotiation techniques, the statement reads.

Vijay Kant Karna, Executive Chair at CESIF, began the seminar by extending his welcome remarks.

“Realizing the lack of comprehensive research on China's involvement in Nepal's infrastructure sector, CESIF conducted research on the said topic, the report of which we are launching today. The report is expected to provide insights into the patterns of Chinese engagement in Nepal's infrastructure. The report also discusses the nexus between the local agents of Chinese contractors and Nepali decision makers,” said Karna.

Author Amish Raj Mulmi presented key findings and analysis of the book.

Mulmi discussed the mechanisms of the Chinese infrastructure engagement in Nepal, and then provided a succinct comparison of the infrastructural investment by China, India and Japan in Nepal, in which he commended Japan’s debt relief practices.

Lal Shanker Ghimire began the discussion by talking about how all aid comes with strings attached.

He reflected that infrastructural funding is no different and must be viewed from that same lens.

Ghimire further said that a lack of proper negotiation has led to some of the unfair deals. This lack of negotiation stems from inferiority complex and lower bargaining capacity of Nepali bureaucrats.

Similarly, Dr Sucheta Pyakuryal mentioned that Nepal is not in a scary position given the status of economic indicators.

However, the political dimension is a thing to reflect upon.

Nepal, as a country, is weak, and thus, commercial projects tend to make a weak state weaker. Therefore, we need to look upon the knots and bolts of our government while dealing with the funded infrastructure projects,’ said Dr Pyakuryal, the statement further reads.

Likewise, Dr Rajib Upadyay provided his opinion on how resources are finite now.

‘The era of cheap money is now over. In particular because of three reasons: firstly, the West is heading towards recession. Secondly, rising global tensions has brought geopolitics into the economic discourse. Thirdly, the defense budget is increasing amongst NATO countries,’ he reflected.

Deependra Nath Sharma, reflected upon the lack of a definite institution to oversee infrastructural governance.

He said that the national planning commission needs to involve itself more. Especially, when projects do not complete in the intended period, there is blame game, and cost overrun, among others.

Sharma opined, ‘There is also a Public Procurement Monitoring office, but is barely monitoring anything. It provides suggestions on dispute, but doesn’t monitor, per se.’ Thus, there is clearly an institutional gap.

Moderator Ajaya Bhadra Khanal summarized the discussion by reflecting that there exists a plethora of aspects of infrastructural development and that Nepal needs to prioritize its national interest while negotiating for infrastructural development deals.

The seminar ended with vibrant participation from audiences for the question-and-answer segment. The event hosted noted diplomats, journalists, former bureaucrats, academicians, former military officials, and researchers.

Centre for Social Inclusion and Federalism (CESIF) Nepal is a not-for- profit, autonomous and independent private research institution serving the public interest, with significant independence from any interest group. Our mission is to help the government create a democratic, secure and just society by making informed and transparent decisions about policies and practices.

Along with government-to-government relationships, the Communist Party of China and India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party are competing to cultivate ties with Nepal’s political parties. Keeping their ideological positions at a bay, they are reaching out to all major parties in Nepal.  

High-level delegations from both the CPC and BJP are visiting Kathmandu, while leaders from various political parties in Nepal are also flying to China and India, with more party-to-party level exchange of visits on the cards. 

Political analysts say both New Delhi and Beijing are making a departure from their traditional policy of backing only specific parties and leaders and building ties with all political forces in Nepal, considering the political instability in the country.

The spectacular emergence of the recently formed Rastriya Swatantra Party and the resurgence of Rastriya Prajatantra Party—both of which are challenging the three traditional parties, Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center)—have also forced China and India to recalibrate their approach. 

The CPC has realized that by fostering and nurturing Nepal’s leftist forces is not going to secure China’s interests.  The BJP, which has been in power in India since a decade, also wants to achieve its agendas including Hindutva ideology in Nepal by roping in all political parties. For them, a favorable government in Kathmandu is not enough; they want the overall political environment of Nepal to be on their side.  

Political analyst Lokraj Baral says both the BJP and CPC are adopting “a realistic approach” in building ties with Nepal’s political parties. 

“There is no ideological foundation in such relationships because both sides want to appease each other to enhance their power.” 

Baral says the CPC is still more partial toward Nepali communist parties, even though it has increased its engagements with other political forces.

This week, Yuan Jiajun, member of the political bureau of CPC visited Nepal at the invitation of the ruling Maoist Center. During his stay, Jiajun met leaders from across the political spectrum. As Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal was out of the country, the Chinese leader held a virtual meeting with him. 

While the Chinese leader was in Kathmandu, a five-member delegation led by Phampha Bhushal of the Maoist party flew to India at the invitation of the BJP. The ties between the BJP and Maoist are only just evolving. Sources say lately, India's ruling party has also been approaching the UML.  

As for the Nepali Congress, it has always been close to India. Last year, the BJP had invited a group of leaders from the Congress party, which was led by Prakash Sharan Mahat. Former prime minister and Congress president, Sher Bahadur Deuba, had also visited the BJP headquarters in India before holding bilateral talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

The engagement between China’s CPC and Nepal’s Maoist party has been there for a long time. During the insurgency period, Beijing largely supported Nepal’s monarchy, but it took no time to reach out to the Maoists, led by Prime Minister Dahal, after the party came to power following the fall of monarchy. Ideological proximity between the CPC and Maoist party brought them together. In the past six months, at least two Maoist delegations including one led by former speaker Agni Sapkota have visited China.  

Since the Maoist party is in power right now, Prime Minister Dahal is making utmost effort to strike a balance between India and China. He needs the support of both the CPC and BJP to stay in power.

But scores of Maoist leaders believe that they should step up engagement with China to reap the benefit from its economic development.

They are of the view that Nepal should immediately implement the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and other agreements reached between the two countries. Through cooperation with Nepal’s political parties, China wants to replicate its development model in Nepal, not export its political ideology, say some experts. 

Due to increased interactions, Nepali leaders too have started appreciating China’s development and its model.

During his talks with Nepali leaders, Chinese leader Jiajun said that China is willing to deepen practical cooperation under the BRI with Nepal, and deeply and solidly promote the strategic partnership of cooperation featuring ever-lasting friendship for development and prosperity between two countries.

China’s Xinhua news agency reported that the CPC is willing to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning with Nepali political parties to boost the development of China-Nepal relations. Jiajun told Nepali leaders that China is willing to enhance cooperation and exchanges with Nepal in agriculture, poverty reduction and education to enrich the relationship between the two countries through subnational exchanges.

Tanka Karki, former Nepali ambassador to China, says it is normal to build party-to-party relationships and there is nothing harmful about it. “Both countries want to enhance people-to-people relationship and political parties remain a key instrument of it.”

The relationship between Nepal’s Maoist party and the BJP is a new one. In July last year, as a party chair, Dahal visited the BJP headquarters in New Delhi and held talks with BJP President JP Nadda. After one year, BJP hosted the Maoists delegation in its party office for what they call to strengthen party-to-party relationship.

Perhaps, it is the result of cordial ties between the BJP and Nepal’s political parties, many Nepali politicians including Prime Minister Dahal are talking about protecting and promoting Hindu religion and culture.  

Not only India and China, the US, the UK and the EU countries are also trying to enhance their influence among Nepal’s political parties through bilateral exchanges and visits. They are mainly close with parliamentarians to influence the law-making process in Nepal.  

Political analyst Chandra Dev Bhatta says India and China’s increased engagements between the political parties of Nepal, can certainly be helpful to enhance relations at the political level which can also percolate at the peoples level.

“This is also particularly important when diametrically opposite political parties in terms of ideology are in power on both sides— BJP in India and Maoist Centre in Nepal. It will help resolve contentious issues between the two countries,” he says. “But if such engagements are done merely for other interests either to stay in power or to create a comfortable regime, they could backfire and damage the relations.”

In July 2018, Nepal gifted two pairs of endangered greater one-horned baby rhinos to China as part of rhino diplomacy. The first pair was Bhadra (male) and Rupasi (female), who boarded a chartered flight to the Chinese city Guangzhou as symbolic ambassadors of Sino-Nepal friendship.

Right before their flight, I had followed all the preparatory activities and rhinos’ road journey in a truck from Chitwan National Park to Kathmandu. After exactly five years, this June, when I traveled to Guangzhou, I couldn’t stop myself from saying hello to the exquisite and rare pair living in a special zone of Chimelong Safari Park.

As Harisharan Pudasaini, Consul General at Nepali Consulate Office in Guangzhou, said, the baby rhinos have not just found a new home in Guangzhou, but also have helped strengthen the friendship between the two countries. “Nepali rhinos are in good hands, growing in a safe and healthy environment. Every time I visit the park, I feel like they are happy and smiling for being able to see us; their Nepali connections. It’s a special feeling.” Are they really happy? How is their new home in China? I tried to find answers through Zhang Xueli, general manager of Chimelong Safari Park.

Excerpts from the interview:

What is the current status of baby rhinos brought from Nepal?

On 12 July 2018, the young Bhadra and Rupasi boarded a chartered flight from Nepal's capital Kathmandu to Guangzhou to start their new life in Chimelong, China. Bhadra and Rupasi are in good condition and have grown up healthy. Bhadra, the male Greater One-horned Rhino, has grown from 670 kg to 1,830 kg, with a total weight gain of 1,160 kg, while the female Rupasi, has grown from 865 kg to 1,474 kg, with a total weight gain of 609 kg.  

Have they adapted to the new environment? How is their nature, food habits and daily activities?

Yes, they are now adapted to their living environment in Chimelong. They are docile and enjoy basking in the sun on the ground. They are large and cute animals. In order to ensure that Nepal’s national treasure is better adapted to the Chinese environment, Chimelong Group has specially set up a special farm for Asian rhinos, planting a large number of high-quality elephant grass for Greater One-horned Rhinos to eat a large amount of food, while adding other grass, leaves, some amount of vegetables and fruits, concentrate and other foods to make it nutritiously balanced. RUPASI especially likes carrots. At the same time, in order to solve the imbalance of dietary fat, soluble and insoluble carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins, Chimelong has developed a special diet for them, adding salt bricks during the feeding process. We believe that the inorganic salts in salt bricks can promote the bone growth of Greater One-horned Rhinos. In addition, Chimelong deliberately expanded the logistics conservation area, which consists of the hay area and the soil area, so that they can express their daily behaviors freely- roll mud bath and grind.

Do you plan to continue keeping them in a special protected area or relocate in the public section of the park?

At present, the two rhinos from Nepal are nearing adulthood. Because the species is so valuable, breeding and enlarging the population is a priority compared to the park display. Chimelong is currently concentrating its efforts to carry out scientific research and strive for early reproduction. Meanwhile, Chimelong has put the exhibition on the agenda and will show them to the public at the right time.

Any specific future plans regarding the increase in their population?

Chimelong has built a herbivorous research center, and continues to carry out scientific research on rhino protection and breeding, constantly breaking through the artificial conservation technology of rhinos, and successfully achieving the breeding of black and white rhinos. At present, Chimelong animal conservation and scientific research team is working on the conservation technology of Greater One-horned Rhino, cooperating with the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA) and  participating in EAZA breeding program, and striving to achieve successfully breeding at an early date. In addition, we hope that the Nepali authorities will re-approve the export of Greater One-horned Rhino to Chimelong and establish a sustainable artificial population in Chimelong. In the future, Greater One-horned Rhinos individuals born in Chimelong will be returned to Nepal, making contributions to Nepal’s wild population protection and public education, as well as the world's rhino conservation.

Since they are in a special protected area, do the Chinese public have any impression about these Nepali rhinos?

More than 100 years ago, the Greater One-horned Rhino was distributed in the wild in China. There are records of rhinos on oracle bone inscriptions dating back more than 3,000 years, referring to the Greater One-horned Rhino. Even now, the Greater One-horned Rhino has a high profile among the Chinese public and is an important flagship species that China needs to restore its wild population in the future. Bhadra and Rupasi carry the deep friendship and trust of the Nepalese people to the Chinese people. As the symbol and messenger of China-Nepal friendship, they have been carefully cared for and managed by the Chimelong conservation team. They are growing healthily and vigorously in their new home in Guangzhou.

What is the significance of these rhinos in China? How will the Sino-China friendship be promoted through this precious gift? 

The Greater One-horned Rhino carries the memory of the Chinese people for thousands years, and has a high status in the minds of the Chinese people. Greater One-horned Rhino is extinct in the wild in China. We hope that with the gradual recovery of wild habitats in China, we can reintroduce Greater One-horned Rhinos to the wild in China in the near future through our efforts. Nepal is known in China for its famous snow-capped mountains, and the Chinese public doesn't know much about Nepal’s Greater One-horned Rhinos. Through the publicity of the Greater One-horned Rhinos of Nepal, people can learn about the diversified wildlife and natural environment of Nepal, more and more people will be attracted to travel to Nepal, friendly exchanges between the people of China and Nepal will be promoted, and the friendship between two countries will be enhanced. May the friendship between people of China and Nepal last forever.

The Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC) and Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (SAAS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday on technology development and exchange of skills in the field of agriculture. 

Executive Director of NARC Dr Dhurba Raj Bhattarai and Vice Chairman of SAAS Dr Leo Younghang signed the MoU on technology transfer and skills exchange.

It is said that the two institutions would cooperate on technology transfer and promotion developed for the farmers and agriculture sector.

Sharing the information about the MoU, NARC Executive Director Dr Bhattarai said that agreement has been made to collaborate on increasing quality productions as well as agriculture development.

Likewise, SAAS Vice-Chairman has pledged to provide training to Nepali researchers and technicians on high-quality agricultural technology. 

Such training would be given to Nepali researchers on maize and sweet yam production in the near future.

A team of SAAS Vice-Chairman is currently on a three-day Nepal visit.