PM's China visit has added new dimension to relations: MC spokesperson Sapkota

By TRN Online, Kathmandu, Oct 1: The ruling CPN (Maoist Center) has assessed that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda’s official visit to China has added a new dimension to Nepal-China relations.

The MC’s view on the visit came out today through the party’s vice chair and spokesperson Agni Prasad Sapkota who also said that the visit has opened new doors for cooperation.

“Prime Minister Prachanda’s visit to China has created a new situation of confidence, trust, and mutual understanding between the countries,” said Sapkota at a fortnightly press meet of the party held in its headquarters at Paris Danda.

Saying that there had been no high-level visits due to COVID and other factors and that there were various skepticisms regarding the status of relations, spokesperson Sapkota said the visit did away with all such things and created a new situation for stronger cooperation.

PM Prachanda arrived home yesterday, September 30, concluding a weeklong official visit to the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Referring to the various levels of bilateral meetings held during the visit including the one-to-one talks between Prime Minister Prachanda and Chinese President Xi Jinping, MC spokesperson Sapkota said, “We have put forth our concerns and views in line with our non-aligned foreign policy.”

He said the meetings held when the geopolitical situation was getting intense were important in their own respect. “A situation has been made in which no external changes either at global or regional level will affect the relations between the two neighbours.”

Sapkota, who is also the chief of the MC’s publicity department, maintained that the agreements and MoUs reached during the visit and issues included in the joint statement are result-oriented and of immediate use.

He expressed hope that the cooperation between the National Development Reform Commission of China (NDRC) and the National Planning Commission (NPC) of Nepal will make NPC additionally effective in the development planning of Nepal.

The deals on constructing cross-border transmission lines have opened doors for Nepal to export electricity to China, he said, adding, that the agreements reached on agriculture, digital economy, and opening of more border checkpoints are equally significant.

The understanding of technology transfer is very important for the development of Nepal, said MC vice-chair Sapkota.

The party has concluded that PM Prachanda's visit has created new avenues to cement Nepal-China relations existing from political and cultural fronts to the people-to-people level. 

Referring to PM Prachanda's address in the UNGA, he said, "PM Prachanda drew the attention of the powerful nations towards reducing the climate change induced adverse effects all over the world through the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, USA."

The PM, partaking in the important sessions as the Chair of the Global Coordination Bureau of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) alongside the UNGA, urged the world community to fulfill their climate action-related commitments, Spokesperson Sapkota shared.

Highlighting the need to maintain national unity through comprehensive discussions on national issues, the Spokesperson believed that all problems would be solved if the political parties worked in unison. 

Stating that PM Prachanda, as the Head of the Government, had been taking special initiatives to resolve all the problems seen in the country, he asserted that the government's top agenda was to achieve good governance with social justice as well as economic prosperity.

According to him, the incumbent government was effortful to provide employment to as many as youths within the country besides working on ways to achieve economic development and raising the living standards of the citizens. He pointed out the need to move ahead holding extensive discussions on the national common interests. The Spokesperson said that while the geo-political complexities were complex and intricate, there was a big prospect of prosperity due to that factor.

Sapkota informed that the government was working to bring back those Nepali youth forces migrating to foreign lands for higher education and employment. The government had made a notable achievement in maintaining good governance with social justice and controlling corruption. 

He reminded that the incumbent government has managed to address the discontents of teachers and doctors while the questions of transformation, criticism and support were seriously posed in the Maoist Centre's campaign that is aimed at the ideological and organizational strengthening of the party from the central to the grassroots level.

On the ongoing 3-month-long campaign for transformation of the party, the MC spokesperson said, "We have identified the problems. It has created a basis for the evaluation of the leaders and the cadres. People have started to look upon the party with hope and we will contend in the upcoming periodic election alone, without forming any alliance."