KATHMANDU: A day prior to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal of Nepal losing a vote of confidence in Parliament, he endorsed an agreement to connect the Himalayan country with China by rail under Beijing’s belt and road initiative.
Government sources quoted by My Republica news portal said it has more operational than political meaning and is consistent with Nepal’s participation in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s multi-billion dollar pet infrastructure project.
“On Thursday, the cabinet meeting held decided to approve the agreement between Nepal and China for ‘Strengthening the Development Cooperation in Building the Trans-Himalayan Multidimensional Connectivity Network’”, stated the report quoting Rekha Sharma who is Communication Minister as well as government spokesperson.
Nevertheless, one minister played down its immediate effects by stating that “This is an initial decision; details of project implementation and BRI modalities are yet to be finalised.”
‘Prachanda’ lost on Friday his motion for a vote of confidence in parliament after coalition partner Communist Party of Nepal – Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) withdrew support from him leading to formation of a new government led by ex-prime minister K P Sharma Oli.
According to The Parami News, Prachand’a received only 63 votes out of 275 House members while 194 were against the motion. At least 138 votes are needed for passing trust motion. In this election, there was one abstention and out of 258 House members who attended voting.
The movement made just before departure from office by Prachanda, not merely takes account towards implementing BRI projects but also important aspects for such initiatives like Kerung-Kathmandu railway as well as broader infrastructural development along Nepal-China border, said The Kathmandu Post citing unnamed officials.
According however to Nepali Congress Prior to signing power sharing arrangement with UML resolved that “only accept grants and not loans under BRI project.” On its part, the government is set to decide on implementing 2017 BRI agreement with China which has been pending at cabinet.
The BRI has aroused worldwide apprehension about China’s debt diplomacy of giving huge loans to small nations for non-sustainable infrastructure projects. Hambantota port that was financed with Chinese loan was leased in a debt-for-equity swap to Beijing for 99 years in 2017 after Sri Lanka could not service the debt.
India has protested against China regarding BRI’s USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor flagship project because it lies through Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
