KATHMANDU: Prime Minister (PM) Balendra Shah (Balen) has instructed lawmakers and leaders of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) to make their upcoming visit to China meaningful by prioritizing Nepal’s national interests and strengthening bilateral relations rather than treating it as a sightseeing tour.
Members of the RSP parliamentary party and party leaders met Prime Minister Shah on Friday to brief him on their planned China visit and seek his guidance.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, RSP Chief Whip Kabindra Burlakoti said the Prime Minister had urged the delegation to use the visit as an opportunity to further strengthen the longstanding relations between Nepal and China while focusing on issues of national importance.
According to Burlakoti, Prime Minister Shah emphasized the need to explore opportunities for cooperation and exchange experiences in areas such as technology, trade, economic development, tourism and agricultural modernization.
The Prime Minister also called for serious discussions and studies on the economic and technological benefits Nepal could gain through closer cooperation with China. Burlakoti said these issues had also been incorporated into the programme prepared by the Communist Party of China (CPC).
He added that the Prime Minister had stressed that the visit should go beyond formal meetings and tourism activities and contribute meaningfully to the mutual interests of both countries, particularly Nepal’s development and prosperity.
Burlakoti also clarified that the Nepal-China border issue would not be discussed during the visit, as it was a party-level engagement rather than an official government visit. He said Nepal’s established position on the border issue would remain unchanged.
The RSP delegation is scheduled to remain in China from November 15 to 26. Discussions and experience-sharing sessions are expected to cover bilateral relations, economic cooperation, technology transfer, agricultural modernization and tourism.
The delegation will depart for China on Sunday at the invitation of the CPC. The visiting team includes RSP Joint General Secretary Hari Dhakal, Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary Party Ganesh Parajuli and Chief Whip Kavindra Burlakoti.
Other members of the delegation are Lima Adhikari, Samiksha Baskota, Sagar Dhakal, Dr. Ananda Bahadur Chand, Sushant Vaidik, Rima Bishwakarma, Dr. Dhananjay Regmi, Shriram Neupane, Dr. Ram Lama, Gazla Shamim Mikrani, Poonam Agrawal, Ratna Thapa, Dr. Sujata Tamang, Pushpa Kumari Chaudhary, Arvind Sah and Ramesh Sapkota.
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