Chinese leader Xi Jinping to make likely visit to Nepal in October
Indications of Xi’s visit to the Himalayan nation – widely-seen as key to China’s outreach in South Asia as it battles for influence in the region – came to light during the three-day visit of Chinese Admiral Sun Jianguo earlier this week
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is likely to visit Nepal on October 16 on his way back from the eighth annual BRICS summit to be held in Panaji, India, on October 15 and 16, according to sources in Nepal’s ministry of foreign affairs.
Indications of Xi’s visit to the Himalayan nation – widely-seen as key to China’s outreach in South Asia as it battles for influence in the region – came to light during the three-day visit of Chinese Admiral Sun Jianguo earlier this week.
The admiral, who is the deputy chief of the joint staff department of the central military commission, met with Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa and Defence Minister Bhim Rawal during his visit.
Analysts in Kathmandu said that Admiral Sun’s visit must be seen “as a reconnaissance mission and an assessment of political ground realities in Nepal” ahead of President Xi’s likely trip.
Nepal’s foreign ministry officials indicated that perhaps Beijing would not like to announce the date of Xi’s visit so early because of the internal political volatility facing the Himalayan nation’s eight-month-old coalition government, headed by Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli.