Dr Rajiv Kumar Jha, who originally hails from Dhanusha district, is the director of Nepal Friendship Medical Research Center. Dr Jha has been taking a close look at the Nepal-China relations for the past 20 years. Khabarhub recently talked to Jha on the Nepal-China partnership, Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and the development issue of Nepal while maintaining balance with India. Excerpts of the interview:

Khabarhub: Speculations are rife about a high-level visit from China this year. When do you think it will take place?

Dr Jha: China will send a high-level delegation to Nepal this year. Most probably, Chinese President Xi Jinping will embark on an official visit to Nepal in the middle of this year. Nepal has to start making necessary preparations to reap benefits from the historic visit.

Nepal’s state actors should be able to take China into confidence and benefit from BRI while maintaining balance with the southern neighbor at the same time. Connectivity is essential for Nepal’s development.

Khabarhub: China has made significant progress in the field of commerce and trade, of late. But Nepal is still lagging far behind. What suggestions do you have for Nepal’s policymakers to benefit from China’s development?

Dr Jha: China has taken a great leap forward in the field of the industrial sector in the last 30 years. Nepal adopted a multiparty democratic system almost at the same time. But Nepal is where it was before. China and India are our immediate neighbors. China does not have much confidence in Nepal since China believes that Nepal cannot make a crucial decision on its own due to foreign meddling in its internal affairs. For instance, despite having multiple benefits, Nepal had to face a lot of intervention while signing the BRI. Therefore, Nepal’s state actors should be able to take China into confidence and benefit from BRI while maintaining balance with the southern neighbor at the same time. Connectivity is essential for Nepal’s development. It brings people food, clothes, shelter, and health. With the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), cooperation can be fostered among the BRI member states on various issues, including health. As many as 62 countries, that have signed the BRI, will be able to promote tourism in the regions that feature in the world heritage list, enhancing access to essential commodities for people. We can resume checkpoints, including Tatopani and Rasuwagadi-Kerung with China, as per the BRI spirit. China has announced scholarships for 3,000 students from the BRI member states. Nepal also can benefit from it.

Khabarhub: Do you mean China does not have confidence in Nepal?

Dr Jha: Media have reported that the growing influence of China over South Asia has worried India. The BRI should not be taken as a geopolitical initiative. It is beneficial to small countries like Nepal. However, small countries cannot take advantage of the BRI due to the influence of big powers.

Khabarhub: Do you mean state actors in small countries like Nepal cannot make decisions on their own? What can be done to achieve prosperity while maintaining power balance with the bigwigs?

Dr. Jha: Administrators can play greater roles than policymakers when it comes to maintaining balance among neighboring countries as it is more permanent in nature. However, it is not allowed to function on its own due to interventions by policymakers. Nepal has no priorities. Some policymakers prioritize road while the others hydro-power. Further, their priorities will change over time once the government changes. Both the government and bureaucracy in Nepal are not strong and stable. China has established 56 free-trade zones in 20 countries giving employment to over 180,000 people. Nepal has to set priorities and those priorities should not change even after the government changes. The BRI should not be construed as a geopolitical initiative, nor China as a rival.

China’s development did not happen in a jiffy. It was poor 30 years ago. China is now trying to expand its trade and commerce after making progress in the industrial sector.

Khabarhub: Nothing significant has taken place so far after the signing of BRI. The South Block is also not positive about it. It is rather skeptical. How can Nepal benefit from it unless India agrees to it?

Dr. Jha: Japan and India have not signed the BRI. India suspects that China is trying to create its influence in South Asia through the passage of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). On the other hand, we are hell-bent on voicing our concerns over China’s meddling in the internal affairs of Pakistan while overlooking our own issue. This is, however, wrong. As a sovereign country, it is our inherent right to make decisions on our own. If we are free and sovereign, why can’t we make decisions on our own? Sri Lanka and Pakistan are doing some work on the BRI but we are not. The BRI is not merely a road initiative. It has multiple benefits. Nepalis should understand this.

Khabarhub: Nepal government thinks that India’s concern about the growing influence of China will put Nepal into trouble. How can we tackle this problem?

China’s development did not happen in a jiffy. It was poor 30 years ago. China is now trying to expand its trade and commerce after making progress in the industrial sector. It has stressed on the production and looking for ways so as to create an international market. Since we have no industries, we cannot export goods. What benefits will Nepal reap? Only the trade deficit will grow, putting us into financial trouble. World Bank has said that economic growth cannot happen unless the country allocates budget for research on economic development. China has invested in India. Meditation, which is popularly known as Yoga asana, is profusely practiced in China, roping in instructors from India. Hindi is taught in China but India has not signed the BRI, yet. India is engaged in a people-to-people relationship. Hence, there is no reason to fear that India would stop providing financial aid to Nepal because of BRI.

Khabarhub: Language, religion, and cultures are also creating barriers to be close to China. We are close with India in terms of language, religion, and cultures. What do you say?

It takes only 14 days for a train to arrive on the Rasuwagadi-Kerung border point from Guangzhou while it takes around 35 days to bring goods to Nepal via India, which starts from Hong Kong. It is cost-effective, too, even though we are not close with China in terms of cultures and language. If Nepal’s relation with India is defined in terms of a conjugal relationship between Sita and Ram, we have also married off Bhrikuti Devi to Songtsen Gampo, the Emperor of Tibet. Further, many languages and cultures observed in Nepal do not match with those in India as well.