Rare sight: Envoys of world’s rival superpowers talk Nepal’s development

Chinese ambassador to Nepal Cheng Song and US ambassador to Nepal Dean R Thompson stand together to discuss Nepal's development.

NL Today

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Kathmandu: In what may be called a rare happening given that the governments of the countries they represent are in open confrontation to outdo each other in the global stage as the most powerful country, US ambassador to Nepal and China’s ambassador to Nepal shared photos of their meetings on social media.

 I “enjoyed a fruitful discussion with @PRCAmbNepal. Discussed our respective bilateral relationships with Nepal and plans to help encourage further progress and development,” wrote Ambassador Dean R Thompson, posting the photo with his Chinese counterpart on Twitter.  

On his part, Chinese ambassador to Nepal, Cheng Song also shared the same photo on twitter and wrote: “Happy to meet with H.E. Ambassador Dean R. Thompson @USAmbNepal. We compared notes on how to help Nepal to develop.”  

This may be the first occasion in which the Chinese and American ambassadors to Nepal are talking about how to help Nepal in its development.  Also the meeting between the ambassadors of these two countries is rare in diplomatic gatherings. 

Often, the diplomatic missions of the world’s two superpowers in Kathmandu resort to blame game and war of words on issues they do not see eye-to-eye. Kathmandu had almost become a venue of war of words between China and the US over the MCC’s Nepal Compact issue back in 2022.

Amid geopolitical rivalry and confrontation between Washington and Beijing, Kathmandu often finds itself caught between the two sides.