Politics

Nepal, China sign several bilateral agreements to strengthen ties

Kathmandu, Mar 26 (EFE).- Nepal and China on Saturday signed several bilateral agreements to strengthen the economic relations between the two Asian neighbors.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi is in Kathmandu on his three-day visit after completing his South Asia tour, on which he visited Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.

This was the highest level visit by a Chinese delegation since Nepal’s Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba assumed office in July 2021.

On Friday evening, Wang met Prime Minister Deuba and witnessed the completion ceremony of the Pokhara Regional International Airport built in the tourist hub Pokhara thanks to a loan from China’s EXIM bank.

The two neighbors agreed to construct the Nepal-China cross border railway and transmission line, foreign ministry spokesperson Sewa Lamsal told Efe.

The proposed 172-kilometer railway, which is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, will link the city of Kerung in southern Tibet to Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, eventually linking with India.

The cross-border railway is estimated to cost over $2 billion and will take around nine years to complete.

China has also increased its annual assistance to Nepal from $106 million to $122.77 million.

Beijing has also agreed to grant an additional 4 million doses of the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine to Nepal. EFE

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