Kathmandu: State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of China Wang Yi arrived on a three-day visit to Nepal on Friday evening.
Wang Yi was welcomed at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) by Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi, chief of protocol Dr Durga Bahadur Subedi and high-ranking officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). Wang, who reached Pakistan on Monday, arrived in Nepal after visiting Afghanistan and India.
As per the itinerary, the Chinese Minister will meet his Nepali counterpart Narayan Khadka on Saturday. Before that, he will be hiking to Shivpuri at 6:30 am.
He is scheduled to hold talks with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday afternoon and President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Sunday morning. Wang is scheduled to return to China on Sunday evening after meeting UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and UCPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda.
Nepal and China will sign at least 10 bilateral agreements during the visit by the Chinese Minister. Sources at the Foreign Ministry said that the Chinese Foreign Minister will be inaugurating the terminal building of Pokhara Regional International Airport from Kathmandu.
This visit comes in the wake of parliamentary ratification of Millennium Challenge Corporation’s $500 million Nepal Compact about which China expressed its reservations openly and the accusation that Sher Bahadur Deuba government is turning a cold shoulder to Beijing.
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