The much-discussed Belt and Road Initiative Implementation Plan between China and Nepal was supposed to be finalised during the 16th round of the diplomatic consultation mechanism meeting between the two countries on Tuesday, however the plan fell through.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently corresponded with the Prime Minister’s Office to request approval for signing the implementation plan during the 16th meeting of the Nepal-China diplomatic consultation mechanism, which ended on Tuesday. This came about after China insisted on sealing the BRI implementation plan during the ongoing visit of its vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong to Kathmandu.
Earlier this week, Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office where she stated that a decision had already been taken at the ministerial level to sign the implementation plan of the Belt and Road Initiative, urging the ministry to sign the agreement during Sun’s visit. But the press statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday after the conclusion of the foreign secretary-level meeting does not mention any discussions on the signing of the BRI implementation plan or any other BRI-related topics.
The signing and discussion of the plan were on the agenda of both sides during the meeting.On Tuesday, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, speaking in Parliament, said discussions were underway to finalise the BRI implementation plan. We are in the final stages of moving forward with it, and an agreement will soon be reached, he said.The prime minister while responding to lawmakers’ queries on Tuesday said that the implementation plan will be signed either in one or two days or at a later date.Top government sources had told the Post that if the plan could not be signed during Sun Weidong’s stay in Kathmandu, it is likely to be signed during the Kathmandu visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also the state councillor of China, later this year.
Entitled “Implementation Plan on Jointly Building the Belt and Road Initiative between the People’s Republic of China and the Government of Nepal”, the BRI implementation plan sets over two dozen cooperation priorities.Sun will wrap up his three-day trip on Wednesday and return to China the same day. Although the date of Wang’s visit to Nepal is yet to be fixed, he is expected to travel to Kathmandu in August or September.
Prime Minister Dahal also revealed several conditions that Nepal has included in the BRI implementation plan while addressing lawmakers’ queries in Parliament on Tuesday.Earlier this week, Foreign Secretary Sewa Lamsal wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office stating that a ministerial-level decision had already been taken to sign the Plan. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha took the decision, which was then sent to the PMO for approval, according to the correspondence seen by the Post.
“The Nepal government and the People’s Republic of China signed the memorandum of understanding [MoU] on cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative on May 12, 2017. In order to implement that plan, the BRI implementation plan needs to be signed,” said the correspondence made by Secretary Lamsal.In early 2020, the Chinese side sent the first draft of the plan detailing the execution of projects under the BRI, including their funding modalities like loan, grant, and interest rates.
The foreign secretary’s letter explains why Nepal needs to sign the implementation plan.Lamsal stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has received positive feedback and consensus from the ministries of Finance and Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs and seeks the authority to sign the plan.Multiple officials involved in the negotiation process told the Post that the agreement was shelved at the last minute due to technical reasons and reservations over the draft.
One reason is that the prime minister could not take the ruling parties into confidence and in fact he did not even consult many of them, said a minister who is aware of the BRI implementation plan related developments. Another reason was that the Chinese side delayed responding to some minor corrections that Nepal had proposed in the draft. “Beijing simply failed to respond on time. More than this, there could also be geopolitical reasons behind the delay in the plan’s signing,” said the minister.