Chinese president visits Nepal after 1996

Xi Jinping on Saturday became the first Chinese president in more than two decades to visit Nepal, where he is expected to sign agreements on several infrastructure projects.

Xi arrived on Saturday from India, where he met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Nepal is expected to tread cautiously while building relations with big neighbours India and China.

India has extensive influence on Nepal’s economy and politics, while China and Nepal share a border covered with high mountain peaks.

Jiang Zemin had been the last Chinese president to visit Nepal, making the trip in 1996, but other Chinese leaders — including premiers and foreign ministers — have since paid official visits to the Himalayan nation.

Tanka Prasad Karki, a former Nepalese diplomat, said that a Chinese president had not visited Nepal in such a long time because “China was waiting for a strong government in Kathmandu, as the last few decades were marked by a Maoist war, frequent changes of government and political instability.” Xi was received by Nepalese President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli at the Kathmandu airport.

Trans-Himalayan connectivity and an extradition treaty will be high on the agenda during official talks on Sunday, said Narayan Kaji Shreshta, a spokesman for the ruling Nepal Communist Party. He said the countries are also expected to sign a project report on constructing a rail link between Kathmandu and Keirung in Tibet.

Nepalese officials ruled out the possibility of any immediate agreement on the extradition issue. China has been pressing Nepal to sign the treaty for some years to improve administration of border areas and fight against illegal border crossing and transnational crimes like banking fraud, trafficking and the smuggling of gold and wildlife parts, Nepalese officials said.

Police said they had arrested 22 people, including some Tibetan refugees, since Friday to prevent any protests during Xi’s visit.

Xi’s two-day visit to India came at a time of tensions over Beijing’s support for Pakistan, India’s archrival, in opposing New Delhi’s downgrading of Kashmir’s semi-autonomy and continuing restrictions in the disputed region.

Indian Prime Minister Modi told Xi on Saturday that relations between their countries had attained stability and momentum in the past year, and that it should enable them to manage their differences and avoid disputes.

Associated Press