Politics
16:04, 15-Dec-2017
Nepal revives Chinese dam project, assures good ties with India
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A coalition of communist parties set to form a new government in Nepal has decided to maintain a balanced relation with both China and India. Plans are also afoot to review scrapped infrastructure projects prepared in collaboration with China.
The Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist Center (CPN) and Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) have performed well in the recent election; they will take over the regime in landlocked Nepal early next year.
Ishwor Pokhrel, the general secretary of the alliance, maintained that after forming the new government, Nepal would revisit agreements with China.
Nepal would implement a 15-point joint communique signed by Khadga Prasad Oli and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in March 2016 that covered transportation, trade, and financial cooperation, Pokhrel told South China Morning Post.
The coalition is witnessing massive public support, and Oli is likely to become Nepal’s new prime minister. Pokhrel pointed out that his party was neither "anti-India" nor "pro-China." "Nepal is having many existing trade and transit agreements with New Delhi," he said.
Nepal's government had earlier canceled the mega Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project proposed to be built in collaboration with Chinese company Gezhouba Water and Power (Group) Co Ltd. The 2.5-billion-US-dollar project proposes to construct a dam for generating 1,200 MW of electricity.
Ahead of the elections, Kamal Thapa, Nepal’s deputy prime minister, last month mentioned the cancellation of the project.
Kamal Thapa, Nepal’s deputy prime minister, tweet about scrapping the hydropower project. /Twitter
Kamal Thapa, Nepal’s deputy prime minister, tweet about scrapping the hydropower project. /Twitter
He tweeted on November 13, "The agreement is marred by irregularities with the Chinese company, Gezhouba Group, regarding the construction of Budhi Gandaki hydropower project, has been canceled in a cabinet meeting and as directed by the parliamentary committee."
India’s National Hydroelectric Power Corporation had shown a keen interest in the bidding for the project after the Nepali government canceled the project citing financial irregularities.
Pokhrel, general secretary of the CPN-UML coalition, ahead of the government formation has announced, Nepal will soon review scrapping of the Budhi Gandaki project to be built by China.
Landlocked Nepal dependence on India and China
Nepal is heavily dependent on India and China for transit and transport points; the Himalayan country doesn’t have a single seaport. Much of the trade and supply of fuel is carried out through two neighboring nations.
After the massive devastation in the earthquake of 2015, India had sent relief teams and materials for rebuilding the crumbled infrastructure. India's kind gesture won accolades from the Nepali government.
A few months after the earthquake, Nepal faced the worst crisis of fuel during the Madhesi movement that led to a blockade of fuel and essential goods from India. The Nepali government blamed India for not resolving the dispute leading to sour relations between the two countries.
The stir caused long hours of power cuts and rationing of cooking gas for nearly over six months. Concerned over the dependence on India, Oli traveled to China in 2016 to sign a transit agreement to get access to more ports and railway networks.
The senior members of the coalition are also planning to speed up projects planned under the Belt and Road initiative.