Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has held the crucial round of Informal Summit deliberations with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu, has said he was impressed by the “love” and cordial relations between Nepal and China. “I am impressed with the way I was cordially welcomed and received at the airport,” the Chinese President told his Nepali counterpart Bidya Devi Bhandari during the meeting here on Saturday. He also agreed that as what Ms Bhandari has said there is ‘only friendship and cooperation’ between China and Nepal, China’s state-run ‘China Daily’ has said.
Mr Xi arrived here on Saturday after holding the Second Informal Summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During the meeting with Nepali President Bhandari, Mr Xi announced that China will provide Rs 56 billion in aid for Nepal over the next two years, according to officials. Mr Xi will also hold delegation-level talks with Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli.
In what political analysts are calling the “arrival of a new geopolitical actor in Kathmandu”, China is likely to generously loosen its purse strings, said a report in ‘The Kathmandu Post’. (UNI)
