*ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will kick off his two-dayvisit to Nepal from today (Monday), as part of the nation’s “pro-active andoutreach efforts” to engage with regional countries.*
During the visit, the prime minister will convey felicitations to theNepalese leadership on the successful conclusion of its democratic process,resulting in the formation of a new government, the Foreign Office said.
New Delhi hasn’t commented on the visit, according to Indian paper *LiveMint*, but people familiar with the development said the Indian governmentis keeping a wary eye on the visit.
Abbasi will congratulate the newly-elected Prime Minister of NepalKhadga Prasad Sharma Oli and also call on Nepal President Bidya DeviBhandari, it said.
Oli is seen as pro-China and reportedly he is not at the best terms withIndia.
The LM reported India’s former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal as sayingthat there was the danger of Nepal joining the Pakistan-China effortagainst India.
*Why India is worrying ?*
Nepal has already signed up for China’s Belt and Road Initiative. InJanuary, China ended India’s internet services monopoly in Nepal. And thereis increasing talk of China constructing railway lines all the way to theNepal border which could end landlocked Nepal’s dependence on India forland routes for trade.
Besides, In a recent interview to the South China Morning Post, Oli wasclear that he would broaden his options by deepening ties with China to getmore leverage in his dealings with Delhi.
“We have great connectivity with India and an open border. All that’s fineand we’ll increase connectivity even further, but we can’t forget that wehave two neighbours,” Oli was quoted as saying in the interview. “We don’twant to depend on one country or have one option,” he said.
Indian circles also believe that Pakistan could be looking for a bit ofsupport for itself from Nepal—to host the stalled Saarc (South AsianAssociation for Regional Cooperation) summit in Islamabad.
The summit was to be held in 2016 but India refused to attend and countrieslike Bangladesh and Afghanistan also, though indirectly, sided with Indiaon its stance. With many of the countries in the eight-nation groupingjoining the India-led initiative, Pakistan was forced to postpone thesummit.
Many South Asian countries in the past have backed bringing China intoSaarc—Nepal and Pakistan included. Ahead of the 2014 Saarc summit, Indiahad successfully pushed back against this move.
PM Abbasi’s visit will provide an opportunity to further expand andstrengthen bilateral relations across all areas of mutual interestincluding trade, education, tourism, defence and people to people contacts,according to the Foreign Office.
It said ways of invigorating the South Asian Association for RegionalCooperation (SAARC) as an important regional organisation will also bediscussed.
The Ambassador of Nepal, Sewa Lamsal Adhikari, called on the prime ministeron Friday and conveyed the message of welcome from the Nepalese leadershipto him.
She also discussed how to further strengthen bilateral relations.
“Nepal is an important regional country and a close friend. Our ties withNepal are characterised by cordiality, mutual respect and commonality ofinterests. Our support to each other at bilateral and multilateral fora hasremained indispensable for both the sides,” the Foreign Office said.