A state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to materialise in mid-October. According to Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli’s press advisor Kundan Aryal, “Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councilor Wang Yi is scheduled to arrive in Nepal on Sunday to prepare the grounds for President Xi’s” visit.
It is said that President Xi will pay an official visit to Nepal on his way back from India, after attending the 2nd informal summit between the top leaders of India and China, which is scheduled to take place in Tamil Nadu, on October 11-13. “Jinping’s visit coincides at a time when China marks the 70th anniversary of the ‘triumph of communism in China'”, the press advisor said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), however, has not officially confirmed Xi’s visit to Nepal. When asked about the media report of President’s Xi visit to Nepal, Bharat Raj Poudyal, spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), said he had no idea about the visit. The ministry would have made an official announcement, had it got such information, he added.
In Beijing, a senior official at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), had, on August 26, hinted that President Xi Jinping was likely to embark on an official visit to Nepal visit soon.
When a team of Nepali journalists, on a visit of Beijing, inquired about the Chinese President’s State visit to Nepal, the senior official said that President Xi owed Nepal a visit and he was looking forward to an early visit.
If materialised, this will be the first visit by President Xi to Nepal. Earlier, he was scheduled to visit in 2016, however was later cancelled.