Nepal Foreign Minister Deuba to go to China on Thursday ahead of PM Oli’s visit

Kathmandu, Nov 26 (PTI) Nepal’s Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba is embarking on a three-day visit to China from Thursday, to prepare the ground for the upcoming official visit of Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli to the northern neighbour.
     Prime Minister Oli is scheduled to pay his maiden visit to China at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart starting December 2.
     This will be Oli’s first visit to any neighbouring country since assuming the prime minister’s position for the fourth time.
     On Monday, the council of ministers endorsed Deuba’s visit and finalised the members that would be part of her entourage.
     The Cabinet has endorsed her visit to China where she would lead a high-level delegation from November 28 to 30 to make necessary preparations for the scheduled visit of PM Oli to China, Minister for Information and Communication Prithvi Subba Gurung said.
     Prime Minister Oli on Monday said no agreement on loan would be reached during his upcoming official visit to China.
     During a meeting with former prime ministers and foreign ministers at the Prime Minister’s Office at Singhdurbar, Oli claimed that the Belt and Road Initiative signed with China was not a loan-based agreement and there was no need to discuss now whether or not to seek a loan from China.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)