Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Nepal later this week as part of a regional tour, seeking to repair ties with the Himalayan nation that is caught between the US-China rivalry . Beijing has yet to confirm the trip, but according to Nepal’s foreign ministry, Wang – who is currently in Islamabad – will arrive in Kathmandu on Friday for a three-day visit. It would be the first visit to Nepal by a senior Chinese official since President Xi Jinping’s trip in October 2019. Wang arrived in Pakistan on Monday and was expected to address a meeting of foreign ministers from over 50 members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation as a “special guest” on Tuesday. China’s ties with Nepal have been strained in recent weeks over a controversial US-backed development project that Beijing has criticised as an attempt by Washington to drive a wedge between the two neighbours. Despite Beijing’s strong opposition, Nepal’s parliament on February 27 ratified its government’s decision to accept a US$500 million grant under a 2017 Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) pact with the US. Washington said it was a development grant and “a gift from the American people to Nepalis” to help improve roads and electricity links. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying had likened the move to opening “a Pandora’s box” and took aim at the US for saying it would hurt bilateral ties if Nepal did not ratify the grant. Zhao Gancheng, a researcher with the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said Nepal’s decision on the MCC project was a blow for the country’s relations with China, which had warmed after it signed on to the Belt and Road Initiative . “Nepal is a priority for Wang during this regional trip as he needs to ascertain how the US-Nepal agreement will affect China,” Zhao said. Wang Dehua, a regional affairs expert at the Shanghai Municipal Centre for International Studies, said Nepal was caught between the US and China. “Nepal was unable to resist pressure from the US, [but] local authorities will have to think twice on critical issues to do with China because most people in Nepal would not want their country to become an enemy of a major power like China,” he said. Chinese observers say Foreign Minister Wang may also stop in India during his regional tour, seeking to ease tensions over an ongoing border stand-off and build momentum for the BRICS leaders’ summit to be hosted by China later this year. Neither Beijing nor New Delhi has officially confirmed a visit, but Indian media reports have suggested it was proposed by the Chinese side, citing government sources. The last time a senior Chinese official visited India was May 2020. That was a month before a bloody Himalayan border skirmish between Chinese and Indian troops – the worst clash in the disputed area in over four decades. “Tensions with India are a major challenge for China’s diplomacy and Beijing needs New Delhi’s support for the BRICS summit,” Zhao said. “Many experts see this as an opportunity for China and India to mend ties, and for Beijing, it needs to shore up ties with South Asian countries .” According to Sameer Patil, a senior fellow at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think tank, upcoming multilateral events might have dictated this new push. “It is important to remember that Xi and [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi haven’t spoken even once in the last two years,” Patil said. “Hence, the two sides would want to achieve the disengagement of soldiers along the Line of Actual Control before the two come face-to-face and possibly even meet bilaterally.” Additional reporting by Kunal Purohit
