Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is preparing to visit China in the first week of December. It will be his first bilateral visit after assuming the office in mid-July. Nepali prime ministers generally go to New Delhi first. Sudheer Sharma, former editor-in-chief of Kantipur daily, has recently published a pair of books on Nepal-China relations—‘Himalpari ko Huri’ and ‘Bhikshu, Byapar ra Bidroha’. He also frequently writes on Nepal’s relations with its two big neighbours. The Post’s Thira Lal Bhusal sat down with Sharma on the eve of Oli’s China visit.
Prime Minister Oli is all set to visit China next month. Many find it curious that he decided to go to Beijing first before visiting New Delhi. How do you see this development?
Traditionally, Nepali prime ministers have given high priority to visits and engagements with our two neighbours–India and China. This is natural. Generally, the prime ministers first visited India and then went to China. I believe Prime Minister Oli tried to do the same. We see regular engagements with New Delhi at various levels. Prime Minister Oli had met his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in the last week of September. In August, Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba visited India and met Prime Minister Modi and her counterpart S Jaishankar, among other key officials there. But Delhi has yet to extend the invitation to the prime minister. So he seems to have decided not to defer his foreign visits for long and chose to visit Beijing first.
We have to see this in two perspectives. Prime Minister Oli is visiting China at the invitation of Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang and he is also going to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. Even in the past, Oli developed good relations with Chinese leaders. So, there are expectations that he may make the visit fruitful. An equally important concern is whether this visit impacts our relations with the southern neighbour India. I think the prime minister should focus on implementing the agreements reached during his previous visits to Beijing and during Chinese leaders’ Nepal visits. He should be mindful of not irking the southern neighbour while reaching any agreement with the northern one. I believe the prime minister is conscious of this.
India often seems anxious about Chinese involvement in Nepal. Do you see any risk of this visit increasing the distance between Oli and India?
Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal visited China first after he became prime minister in 2008. Even in the past, some Nepali prime ministers including Tanka Prasad Acharya went to China on their first official visit. This is not unusual. The two prime ministers—Oli and Modi—recently met in New York. India doesn’t seem ready to intensify bilateral engagements with Nepal immediately. So it is natural for the prime minister to increase engagements with China, without taking any steps that could provoke India. We should stop seeking Indian signals when dealing with China, and vice versa. We should maintain parallel relations with both the neighbours without antagonising any side.
In this context, what should be the prime minister’s priorities during his China visit?
We have to end our chronic problem of signing agreements and not implementing them. We make announcements and forget them. There are also some infrastructure projects China pledged to develop but there is little progress. So the prime minister should draw the Chinese leadership’s attention and press them to complete the projects on time. Some important projects such as Mugling-Pokhara and Narayanghat-Butwal road upgradation by the Chinese side have been slow, causing hardships to people. Even such issues should be communicated to the political level. Also, there are several commitments made by the Chinese government but left unimplemented. This creates an impression that China makes big promises but doesn’t keep them.
Prime Minister Oli often highlights the Tokha-Chhahare road upgrade project under Chinese support but there is no satisfactory progress. Progress on preparing the detailed project report (DPR) on Nepal-China cross-border railway is unclear as well. Nepal expected some substantive support from China to make the Pokhara international airport financially feasible. Some concrete steps are needed to operate this airport. There are reports that the government has requested China to convert the loan taken to develop the airport into a grant and the prime minister will push for this during his visit. It will be an achievement if the prime minister succeeds in this.
In the course of writing your recent books, you extensively interacted with Chinese officials and experts, as well as with their Nepali counterparts. What are the major factors delaying the projects? Is it lack of preparation on the Nepali side or is there any problem on the Chinese side?
First, we [Nepalis] sign agreements but don’t work seriously to implement them. This is true in the case of agreements with other countries as well. We are negligent. Red tape is another problem. Third, China gives less priority to small countries like Nepal as it has so many big issues with other countries. We have to constantly follow up with them to speed things up.
In the past, the two sides agreed to open more border points. This should be expedited. The people-to-people relations on the border areas were historically based on social interactions at the community level. People used to trade, marry those from the other side and interact in various ways. Of late, despite progress on infrastructure development, social engagement has been hindered. This should be rectified and new border points should be opened at Dolpa, Mustang, Gorkha, Dolakha, Taplejung, and Sankhuwasabha. We should think beyond the Capital-centric approach. This will help strengthen relations at the people’s level and give alternatives in our connectivity. We should put connectivity at the core of our relations with the two neighbours.
In the past decade, we have made good progress in improving connectivity with India. A study report has been prepared on the Raxaul-Kathmandu railway project. We are building an expressway linking Kathmandu and the southern belt of the country. Integrated check posts (ICPs) have come into operation along Nepal-India border points. Cross border electricity transmission lines have been built and we have increased energy trade with India. We have thus progressed in deepening connectivity with India. We lack reliable north-south highways. Therefore, the prime minister should make connectivity a major agenda of his China visit.
Given the lacklustre performance of past projects, can we be optimistic about big cross-border infra projects under Chinese help?
Nepal and China have committed to run some projects under the Trans-Himalayan Multi Dimensional Connectivity Network (THMDCN) concept. A key component of this concept is to upgrade connectivity between Kathmandu and Kerung that includes roads as well as a railway. The concept also envisions operating other border points. The railway project requires more study and investment and needs to consider various other factors. For now, we should prioritise opening the aforementioned border points. The Korala border point at Mustang has huge potential. Nepal is making a road that connects Mustang with the Sunauli border point with India.
Over time, Nepal has rightly adopted a steadfast position saying that we don’t join a strategic alliance proposed by any country. It stayed away from the US government’s State Partnership Programme (SPP) and China’s Global Security Initiative (GSI) as well as from India’s security umbrella. But we can’t be isolated in development initiatives. We have to take support from India, China, the US and other countries based on our needs.
Do you think the Chinese side will show magnanimity on Nepal’s requests, for instance on waiving off the loan to develop Pokhara international airport?
Though the Chinese ambassador to Nepal last year claimed the airport project to be under the BRI, the case is different because it was signed years before we joined the BRI. And, converting that loan into a grant is not a big deal for China. They should show magnanimity given the support we have been providing to China for a long time. If you see things historically, Nepal has helped China by suppressing Khampa revolt, preventing free Tibet movements on our soil and showing a steadfast commitment to One-China policy. China, which is now prosperous, should definitely show magnanimity and waive off loan of Pokhara airport. They shouldn’t see relations with Nepal through a purely transactional lens.
In your book, you describe 2008 as a watershed after which the engagements between Nepal and China increased drastically. But why couldn’t we benefit from the northern neighbour in terms of development?
The Chinese side looks more interested in increasing engagement. They like to showcase their development before foreigners. But more than lavish hospitality, we need substantive support from the neighbour, which has emerged as the world’s second-largest economy. But we should be clear about what we want from our engagements with China.
Prime Minister Oli is widely regarded as “pro-China.” His visit to Beijing will only deepen that perception.
