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Chinese PM Wen’s Nepal visit postponed
The much anticipated Nepal visit by Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao has been postponed due to unspecified reasons.
The much anticipated Nepal visit by Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao has been postponed due to unspecified reasons.
Jiabao, was to reach Nepal for a three-day bilateral visit on December 20. It would have been the most high profile Chinese visit since Jiabao’s predecessor Zhu Rongji visited Nepal in 2001.
On Tuesday, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Yang Houlan informed the ministry of foreign affairs about Jiabao’s decision to postpone the visit.
The news was later confirmed by deputy prime minister and foreign minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha who had visited Beijing last month and personally handed over an invitation to the Chinese premier.
“We were supposed to finalize the date this week, but China wants to delay it further,” Shrestha told ‘Republica’ while adding that the date for Jiabao’s trip had not been agreed upon by both sides.
Jiabao was scheduled to reach Kathmandu with a 101 member delegation comprising several senior ministers. Both sides were to sign several important agreements during the visit.
Nepal was seeking credit to the tune of US $5 billion from its northern neighbour for construction of three major hydropower projects and an international airport at Pokhara.