Mahesh Maskey Photo: Courtesy of the Nepalese Embassy in China

Editor's Note:

Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli kicked off his China visit on Sunday. Before his China trip, he visited India last month. What is the significance of Oli's China visit? Lying along the route of the "One Belt, One Road," how can Nepal seize opportunities to boost national development? And how will the country balance China and India in its diplomacy? Global Times (GT) reporter Yu Jincui interviewed Nepalese Ambassador to China Mahesh Maskey (Maskey) by email on these issues.

GT: What's the purpose of this visit? How do you see its significance?

Maskey: Prime Minister Oli is visiting China in the third week of March this year at the invitation of Premier Li Keqiang. The purpose of the visit is to take the age-old friendship between Nepal and China to a new high. The two countries have just celebrated 60 years of diplomatic relations and this is the first visit of Nepal's prime minister to China after the promulgation of the new constitution by the constituent assembly, ending a long period of political transition from constitutional monarchy to federal democratic republic.

Now Nepal's overriding priority is economic development and it looks toward China for win-win cooperation to achieve this goal. Nepal is an important partner in the "Belt and Road" initiative, a vibrant bridge and key link that connects China with South Asia. Many important agreements are expected to be inked during this visit. These are some of the important factors that contribute to the significance of this trip.

GT: China overtook India as Nepal's biggest foreign investor in 2014, and is also the second largest source of foreign tourists to Nepal. What do you think of the status quo and prospect of China-Nepal cooperation?

Maskey: The rapid rise of China to the top of the list of foreign direct investment in spite of the difficult political transition in Nepal is a telling sign of the unyielding course and great potential of China-Nepal economic cooperation. When conditions become more favorable, the influx of Chinese investors is certain to increase by leaps and bounds. To harness the full potential of economic cooperation and attract investment from China, three important factors are prerequisite: Investment-friendly regulations, infrastructure and energy.

As Nepal has made headway in creating an investment-friendly environment, infrastructure and energy can be the most promising areas for Chinese investment at the moment. For example, instead of waiting for a few years for the completion of hydropower plants to supply enough energy for large projects, adequate hydropower, solar or wind power can be built into the project to provide energy off-grid.

Nepal's comparative advantages are in the tourism industry, high-end agricultural and animal products, handicrafts, energy and water resources, IT and the health industry. However, Nepal's development path has to take into consideration its fragile ecosystem from the very start. The Himalayas are home to the greatest reserves of life-sustaining fresh water in the world. Trans-Himalayan economic corridors have to be utilized with utmost care because of its invaluable biodiversity and medicinal plants.

GT: What role can China play in the continuing post-quake reconstruction process?

Maskey. China has stood by Nepal from the very beginning when a massive earthquake hit Nepal that brought untold miseries to her people. From search and rescue operations, medical and public health care to post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction, China has lent firm support as a true friend would at the time of need. In the international donor conference held in Kathmandu last year, China, represented by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, declared support of 3 billion yuan ($463 million) for reconstruction work. Nepal will always be grateful for this profound expression of friendship and I would like to once again thank China on behalf of my government and the people of Nepal.

China has huge experience of dealing with earthquake-related disasters from prevention to reconstruction and rehabilitation, particularly in Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces and the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of China which are also closely cooperating with Nepal, reinforced by the "go west" policy of the Chinese government.

Through sharing experience, training opportunities for prevention and management of disasters and technical support from China's advanced technology, China can continue to support Nepal. Post-earthquake reconstruction itself can be a major economic activity attracting Chinese investors.

GT: Nepal is a leading trading p¬artner with the TAR, but statistics show that after Nepal's earthquake last year, Tibet's import and export trade shrunk by 59.2 percent. How can this be restored?

Maskey. Around 90 percent of Tibet's trade with foreign countries is with Nepal. And Tibet is the only land route for Nepal's trade with China. In all the future economic cooperation between Nepal and China, Tibet is going to play the key role. At the same time, Tibet is transforming and upgrading with all round development, making tourism industry the key link which is also quite suitable for Nepal's own green and sustainable development strategy based on tourism.

Tibet aspires to be a world class tourism destination; Nepal has already achieved that status. One can foresee a tremendous synergy and win-win cooperation if Nepal and Tibet work on their comparative advantages to prosper mutually. 

However, because of the challenging and high-risk topography of the border areas, natural disasters like earthquakes and landslides may affect the transportation of goods and thus the economy negatively. Last year, both sides were prepared less. But, learning from experience, Nepal and China are searching for ways to deal with such unwanted developments in the future. Opening more trading routes, improving road conditions, establishing efficient mechanisms for cleaning, repairing and reconstructing roadways, expansion of cross border trading zones, and construction of railways are some of the major methods being considered.

GT: China is promoting the "Belt and Road" initiative. How can this platform provide opportunities for national development of Nepal?

Maskey: The initiative is a brilliant stroke of imagination of Chinese President Xi Jinping, a synthesis of the ancient and the modern. It has given an impetus to a novel inter-regional connectivity that encompasses nearly 60 countries and 4 billion people. Nepal as the immediate neighbor of China is poised to gain tremendously from this initiative.

The initiative will help establish connectivity across this challenging geography of trans-Himalayan corridors through Nepal-China joint venture. Connectivity by both highways and railways between the major border points of China and Nepal are high priority projects. While within four years, China's railroad is likely to reach near Nepal border. Nepal also wants to build railway tracks in its territory to get connected to China as soon as possible.

Ensuring such connectivity, the platform will provide the greatest opportunity for national development of Nepal through tourism-centered green and sustainable development of Nepal. The TAR is expecting 23 million tourists in 2016, a number which has consistently risen over the past years. If Nepal attracts only 10 percent of these tourists, the impact on its economy is going to be tremendous. At the same time, Nepal could be a major supplier of high-end organic products to the tourists in the TAR which would also help narrow her trade deficit with China.

A China-Nepal-India economic corridor is also under discussion and emerging as an ambitious project to connect China with South Asia inspired by "Belt and Road" Initiative and utilize connectivity through Tibet, which, if connected with the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar corridor, can form a circular subset of the modern "Silk Road." Such a subset of Silk Road countries would have a tremendous opportunity to prosper together through economic and cultural cooperation in a mutually beneficial environment.

Nepal has recently become a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The "Belt and Road" initiative will also facilitate Nepal's trade, commerce and cultural exchanges with the countries in this regional networking given transit facility through China. This is high on the agenda in Oli's current visit.

GT: How does Nepal position itself between China and India? Before Oli's visit to India last month, there were rumors that he would visit China prior to India due to hiccups in Indo-Nepal ties over the Madhesi issue. Some claimed that Nepal was playing the China card against India. How do you view this?

Maskey: Nepal has only two neighbors, China and India, and both are great countries with age-old civilizations, like that of Nepal. Both cultures have met in Nepal and contributed to the development of the unique culture of Nepal and likewise, Nepal's culture has also travelled to her neighbors, enriching their own specific cultures.

This age-old friendship has survived the challenges of time, growing and scaling new heights by ever renewing itself. Both neighbors are not only Asian but also emerging world economic superpowers. Nepal aspires to be a vibrant bridge and close partner in the convergence of their economic and cultural collaboration.

Nepal's national interest is safeguarded if the two great neighbors collaborate more rather than get drawn into conflict. Therefore Nepal playing the "China card" against India or for that matter, "India card" against China is out of the question. At best such notions may be "figments of the imagination" of those who do not understand the national interest of Nepal.

After the promulgation of the new constitution of Nepal through an overwhelmingly absolute majority of the constituent assembly, it is true that some dissatisfaction was expressed by the Madhesi community in Nepal. This is being addressed and is expected to be resolved fully in the near future. Such developments do happen when a nation makes historic transitions but Nepal is capable of solving such problems through dialogue, as she has done in the past, between the conflicting parties. China has also expressed full confidence in Nepal's ability to solve her own problems.