Kathmandu: Foreign Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister, Rajan Bhattarai has urged the Chinese Defense Minister not to link his visit to Nepal with India.
Stating that Nepal is an independent country and its relations with its neighbors will be free, he urged Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe’s visit to Nepal not to be linked with India. Chinese Defense Minister Fenghe was on a one-day visit to Nepal on Sunday.
In an interview at the Reports Club, Stating that Nepal’s relations with its neighbors will always be independent, Bhattarai said that there should be no mistake in linking it with third countries. “We have always been an independent country,” he said. Relations with another independent country are independent,” he said, “Nepal-India relations are independent relations between the two countries. The relationship between Nepal and China is also a relationship between the two countries.”
He said that there was no activity other than the continuation of China’s annual support to the Nepal Army. He also said that the meeting of the Foreign Ministerial Joint Commission on border disputes with India would be concluded within December. He said that the disputes within the party should be resolved through discussions in the concerned committees.
Nepali Congress leader Bhimsen Das Pradhan, who was also present at the club, said that Nepal should work for the benefit of both China and India. He said that Nepal should not lean towards any country and work towards its own development without harming any country.
Meanwhile, Civil Society Leader Sundarmani Dixit urged the political parties and leaders of Nepal to move forward thinking for the benefit of the country rather than their personal interests. He urged Nepal not to focus on personal interests as progress could be made only if it could move forward by building good relations with both the countries.
He said, “If Nepalis can use a little bit of wisdom, leave their own interests and the interests of the party and take advantage of these two countries, if we learn something, we can go much higher.” The leaders of the parties do not reap the fruits of Nepal by fighting China and India for the benefit of their own party. If we do not get that fruit, we will be in an unfortunate situation.
He stressed the need to expand relations with China and India in the interest of his country.