China Nepal vs India: Nepal and China signed the much-awaited Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation draft agreement on Wednesday. This agreement is expected to pave the way for the implementation of BRI projects. This agreement was signed during the official visit of Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to China. After assuming the post of Prime Minister for the fourth time, Oli, breaking the old tradition, decided to make his first foreign visit to Beijing instead of India. Prime Minister Oli (KP Sharma Oli) said in a post released on the social media platform ‘X’, “Today we signed the draft agreement on Belt and Road cooperation. As my official visit to China comes to a close, I am honored to have bilateral talks with Prime Minister Li Keqiang, discussions with NPC Chairman Zhang Leji and an extremely fruitful meeting with President Xi Jinping. Said that Nepal-China economic cooperation will be further strengthened under the Belt and Road Cooperation draft agreement.
The Government of Nepal and the Government of the People’s Republic of China signed the Framework for Belt and Road Cooperation today. pic.twitter.com/6oTlDvTzIe
— MOFA of Nepal 🇳🇵 (@MofaNepal) December 4, 2024
According to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai and Liu Sushe of China’s National Development and Reform Commission signed the BRI draft agreement. According to the Kathmandu Post newspaper, in the agreement, the Chinese side removed the word “grant” proposed by the Nepalese side and suggested replacing it with the word “investment” for projects under the BRI. According to the newspaper, after reviewing the new terms and conditions, officials found a solution and decided to include the phrase “assistance and technical assistance” in relation to project execution in Nepal.
The matter was stuck for seven years
In 2017, Nepal agreed in principle to become part of China’s mega Belt and Road project. The BII is a vast network of roads, transport corridors, airports and rail lines, connecting China with the rest of Asia, Europe and beyond. However, due to lack of proper structure, no significant progress has been made in this in the last seven years. Kathmandu also had to struggle to get political consensus on this issue.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative, however, is ambitious. But due to this, many countries have got trapped in the debt trap. This is often called China’s “debt diplomacy”, in which China builds a mega project by lending money to a small country in terms of economy, and when the country cannot repay the loan or the interest, Beijing either repays the loan for the rest of its life. Takes over the project or grabs the land to pursue its expansionist agenda.
BRI is a debt trap
China’s Belt and Road Initiative has a history of violating the sovereignty of other countries. Many leaders of Nepal’s government and opposition are worried about rising debt in an already stressed economy. Even within Prime Minister Oli’s government, there is a fierce debate going on about the potential risks in these Chinese mega projects. Nepal Congress, a key ally of PM Oli’s party, has strongly opposed any project funded by Chinese loans.
Nepal stuck even after suffering
China had financed the airport project in Pokhara, Nepal’s second largest city, by giving a loan of more than $200 million. Despite serious concerns raised by India, Nepal went ahead with the project and opened the airport last year, but the airport faced losses due to lack of international flights. Located about 120 kilometers from Kathmandu, Pokhara is less than 20 minutes from the Indian border by commercial flight. India had to close its airspace under national security imperatives, as Kathmandu ignored New Delhi’s concerns that China could use the airport to deploy its military aircraft and helicopters.
