Kathmandu: Nepal and China held 16th Sixteenth Meeting of the Diplomatic Consultation Mechanism in Kathmandu on Tuesday. Sewa Lamsal, Foreign Secretary of Nepal led the Nepali delegation to the Meeting and Sun Weidong, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, led the Chinese delegation.
During the meeting, the two sides reviewed the whole gamut of bilateral relations between Nepal and China and assessed the progress made in the implementation of agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) signed and the decisions made in the past, Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in its press statement. “They expressed firm commitment to further promote cooperation in mutually agreed areas and committed to work in realization of economic opportunities for mutual benefits.” Both sides reiterated that strong foundations of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, Panchsheel, are the guiding features of Nepal-China bilateral relations.
Both sides shared views on maintaining the tradition of regular exchange of high-level visits. They discussed the ways and means to further enhance cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, infrastructure development, connectivity, agriculture, among others, including the promotion of Nepal’s tourism prospects in China in the context of celebration of the year 2025 as ‘Visit Nepal Year in China,’ Foreign Ministry said. “Both sides decided to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Nepal and China with special programmes and activities in 2025.”
Though Sun Weidong’s visit was also expected to make a headway in concretizing plans for the implementation of the BRI projects, BRI remains conspicuously absent in Foreign Ministry’s statement. During his stay in Kathmandu, Sun Weidong paid courtesy call on Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda, President Ramchandra Paudel and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha.
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