What can we expect from PM’s China trip?

After first going to India and then hosting his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, Prime Minister KP Oli is now laying the ground for his state visit to China in early June. Starting with his time as government head during the 2015-16 border blockade, Oli has consistently emphasized Nepal’s need to maintain a calibrated balance between India and China. The five months of the crippling blockade had cruelly brought home to Nepalis the dangers of overreliance on any one of its two big neighbors. Oli, both during his first term as prime minister and later in the opposition, continued to strongly pitch for ‘equidistant’ relations. Thus it is not surprising that having done his bit to mend his frayed ties with India, which were badly damaged during the blockade, PM Oli, in his second inning as prime minister, is now focused on enhancing relations with China. Oli has made no secret of his ambition to make Nepal a ‘vibrant economic bridge’ between the two economic powerhouses next-door. To this end, during his upcoming China trip, he will focus on operationalizing the landmark Trade and Transit treaty that he had signed during his 2016 China trip as prime minister.

“My understanding is that China wants Prime Minister Oli to come with clear plans of the projects Nepal wants to develop under the Belt and Road Initiative [BRI],” says Gopal Khanal, PM Oli’s former foreign policy advisor. “So far Nepal has failed to offer a credible and specific plan on how it is to benefit from the BRI.”

Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali, while speaking to media-persons in Beijing recently, seemed to suggest that Nepal was keen on having China develop some big-ticket infrastructure projects in Nepal under its BRI initiative. “Nepal has expectation that the initiative should contribute to the development of physical infrastructures, enhancing cross-border connectivity including railways and roads, pro­motion of trade, tourism and investment, and people-to-peo­ple relations,” he had said.

In other words, Nepal wants China to foot the bill, in toto, for connectivity projects. For instance, in addition to China bearing the expenses of the railway line up to Rasuwagadhi on the border, Nepal wants its northern neighbor to also pay for the rail link from Rasuwagadhi to Kathmandu (and beyond). Nepal could likewise lobby for the enlistment of the Damak Industrial Corridor project and cross-border electric­ity transmission lines under the BRI initiative.

During bilateral talks, the Chinese, for their part, may seek a formal extradition treaty, like the kind Nepal has with India, says someone privy to Oli’s upcoming China trip.

But by and large it will be a case of PM Oli putting forth a laundry list of expectations before the Chinese leadership.