Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has made an Official Visit to Nepal. His trip lasted for four-and-a-half hours and during his stay, he signed eight instruments under bilateral cooperation following the talks held at the PM´s office in Singha Durbar. Wen also attended the official luncheon hosted by PM Bhattarai in Singha Durbar and visited President Dr Ram Baran Yadav at his residence in Maharajgunj before he left Kathmandu for Qatar.
With almost an hour delayed (to what was reported as arrival time), Wen landed in a special aircraft at 11:50 am at TIA. He was welcomed by Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, Speaker Subash Nembang and other high government officials at the airport.
What did Nepal receive from Wen Jiabao’s Visit to Nepal?
- China would provide an annual grant assistance of 200 million yuan (Rs 2.6b) to Nepal, raising the amount by one-third of the existing assistance under the technical and economic cooperation.
- China has pledged to provide a grant assistance of 750 million yuan (Rs 9.75b) to Nepal in economic and technical assistance in the next three years.
- China has also agreed to provide additional budgetary support of USD 20 million to the Nepal government in the current fiscal year which sources said would be used to finance rehabilitation of combatants.
- China has also pledged financial and technical assistance worth 10 million yuan (Rs 130m) to enhance the capacity of Nepal Police and a package worth 400,000 yauan (Rs 4.2m) to strengthen the Armed Police Force.
- China and Nepal, both sides have also agreed to construct and manage dry ports at six different locations along the Nepal-China border to facilitate bilateral trade and movement of the people.
Here’s the gallery of Images of Wen Jiabao Visit to Nepal.
This is the first visit from a Chinese premier in last ten years. The then premier Zhu Rongji had visited Nepal in May 2001.
But why was this visit kept hush-hush? Let us know your views in the comments below!
Images: Dinesh Shrestha / Online Khabar