Kathmandu, August 24
China has said it welcomes positive developments recently witnessed in Nepal-India bilateral relations.
The northern neighbour’s comment comes on the day Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has begun his five-day state visit to India on Wednesday.
“Both Nepal and India are important neighboring countries of China,” spokesperson of Chinese Foreign Ministry Hua Chunying said in response to a question asked during a regular press briefing in Beijing yesterday, “We welcome the sound development of the Nepal-India relations and hope that India can put the growth of the China-Nepal relations into perspective.”
Meanwhile, Beijing has clarified that it does not believe that being close with one neighbour means counterbalancing another.
As the questioner asked her comment on media reports which claim that India is under the pressure to “counterbalance China with a huge project”, Hua said “The international relations in the 21st century are not zero-sum games and do not mean that one country need to counterbalance another.”
She also called for India’s participation in the Beijing-initiated Belt and Road Initiative.
“The Belt and Road Initiative is open and inclusive and it is conducive to promoting the connectivity, common development and prosperity of the regional countries. We welcome the participation of all countries on the basis of voluntarism and in the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits.”
