Chinese Defence Minister arrives in Nepal

Kathmandu, Nov 29 (IANS) Two days after Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla concluded a successful trip to Nepal, Chinese Defence Minister and State Councillor Wei Fenghe arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday.Wei's agenda and objectives for his day-long visit to the Himalayan nation is yet to be disclosed by either of the two governments.He is the senior most Chinese official to visit Nepal in the last one year after President Xi Jinping's trip to the Himalayan nation in October 2019. According to media reports, after completing the Nepal visit, Wei will leave for Bangladesh and Pakistan. Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Ministry termed the trip as a "working visit" and during his one-day stay in Kathmandu, Wei will meet President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who is also the Defence Minister, and General Purna Chandra Thapa, Chief of
Army Staff, Nepali Army. He will leave Kathmandu on Sunday evening. Nepali experts and foreign policy observers have said that Wei's visit is "very meaningful" at a time when dispute and discord in the ruling Nepal Communist Party has reached an all time high; slow implementation of China's Belt and Road Initiative; and Beijing quest to know the position of South Asian nations towards recent India-US strategic pacts among others.
--IANS str/ksk/