Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ had long been preparing to visit China. That preparation was more of an attempt to balance Nepal’s relations with the power nations rather than mere agenda.
Prachanda, who flew to America to attend the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, embarked on a visit to China from New York. Even though he is nearing almost seven decades in age, he seems still agile and energetic compared to the previous prime minister of Nepal. He does not seem tired, yet.
The visit to China was arranged at a time when the opening ceremony of the Asian Games was taking place in Hangzhou. Prachanda's presence at the ceremony along with President Xi Jinping and especially some other Asian leaders was definitely a matter of happiness for China. Hence, this visit proved to be more useful not only for Prachanda, but also for China.
However, it would be hasty to conclude that Prachanda's visit to China and the policy of balancing the North was successful. It was evident that he did not give the same level of importance to the North as he exhibited it to the southern neighbor, India. Choosing to travel to New York for a visit to a neighboring country was counterintuitive in itself.
At this time, Prime Minister Prachanda, who played an important role in the approval and implementation of the US-aided project MCC, sent his army chief to Delhi for the conclave of the army chiefs of the Asia Pacific region. On what basis did Nepal, which previously boycotted the joint military exercise of BIMSTEC, participate in the meeting of the army commanders of the Asia Pacific region? This question will be raised by the government and the army in the coming days.
Especially when Prime Minister Prachanda was in China, Chief of Army Staff Prabhu Ram Sharma's visit to Delhi was a kind of an insult to China. China must have understood this program as a military alliance of the West against itself.
Nepal has refused to join the Global Security Initiative (GSI) launched by China as an initiative that looks like a military alliance or security partnership, while it has accepted the Global Development Initiative (GDI).
Through this moves, Nepal has shown a non-aligned foreign policy and has given a message that it will only partner with China in development and not in security.
Nepal is reluctant to sign the plan for the implementation of BRI, signaling that it will emphasize grants and not loans in development. Meanwhile, the Chinese side is showing concerns and grievances in various ways when there is no progress in the implementation even after seven years of signing the BRI.
In a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Hangzhou City, Prachanda said that he did not do his homework on the BRI implementation plan. Nepal's reluctance to implement the BRI project, which Xi has been promoting with his ambition and prestige, was certainly not a happy thing.
When Prachanda reached Beijing from Hangzhou, the talks between the prime ministers of both countries were almost limited to formality. However, Prachanda wanted to show that he had achieved something in the issues of opening a cross-border power transmission line and opening northern border points. Due to his desire, it was finally agreed to mention in a joint statement that both sides are committed to the implementation of BRI.
The 13 points mentioned in the joint statement and the agreement reached were not a new 'break through', but were seen as sufficient to 'show that something has happened'. Some experts have considered it as Prachanda's 'face saving'.
The joint statement also mentioned that Prime Minister Prachanda has pledged to remain opposed to an independent Taiwan and not to allow activities in the Nepali soil that undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China. It is a welcome aspect for China. However, both of these issues were already covered by the 'One China' policy that Nepal has been following.
Despite this, the approval and implementation of the MCC by the Parliament of Nepal, the continuous arrival and increasing activity of American officials in Nepal, and the policy of Nepal's withdrawal from China's strategically important projects, including the BRI, have made the northern neighbor quite suspicious.
Prachanda, who reached China amid intense psychological pressure from the South and the West, had to dispel these doubts. He tried, too. How much this Prachanda strategy has worked, is a subject of review. However, the trust that China had placed in him in the past was not seen this time.
