Nepal Foreign Affairs (KATHMANDU, 24 August) – China has said it welcomes the sound development of Nepal-India relations at a time when Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was holding bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
Prime Minister Deuba is in India for five days official visit as his maiden foreign trip after assuming the premiership. New Delhi’s constant worry over Nepal is that China has out-spaced India through the financial aid and foreign direct investment.
In a regular press conference, spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry Hua Chunying on Wednesday said international relations should not be a ”zero-sum game” and it was ”happy” to see the development of sound ties between India and Nepal. She gave
”We welcome the sound development of the Nepal-India relations and hope that India can put the growth of the China-Nepal relations into perspective” she said responding a query. There has been reports that Beijing was concerned and seriously observing the visit of Nepali Prime Minister to India as the India and China are at loggerheads over the Doklam.
Both China and India have been deploying their concern officials to clarify their positions on Doklam thereby setting global tone in favour of them. ”I would like to point out that the international relations in the 21st century are not zero-sum games and do not mean that one country need to counterbalance another. Both Nepal and India are important neighboring countries of China.” she said.
Highlighting the China’s Belt and Road Initiative to promote connectivity and common development of the regional countries, she openly called all countries to participate. ”The Belt and Road Initiative is open and inclusive and it is conducive to promoting the connectivity, common development and prosperity of the regional countries” she said,” We welcome the participation of all countries on the basis of voluntarism and in the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits.”.
See the full response of spokesperson on Nepal :
Q: According to the report, the Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has started his visit to India today. Some India media said that India is concerned that Nepal has acquired a large amount of investment from the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China and India is under the pressure to “counterbalance China with a huge project”. What is your comment?
I haven’t read the report mentioned by you. But I would like to point out that the international relations in the 21st century are not zero-sum games and do not mean that one country need to counterbalance another. Both Nepal and India are important neighboring countries of China. We welcome the sound development of the Nepal-India relations and hope that India can put the growth of the China-Nepal relations into perspective.
The Belt and Road Initiative is open and inclusive and it is conducive to promoting the connectivity, common development and prosperity of the regional countries. We welcome the participation of all countries on the basis of voluntarism and in the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits.