Bonded by BRI

Nepali Congress and CPN-UML coming to a common platform on the initiative bodes well for the country.

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli heads to China today amid a heated debate on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). At the centre of the debate is an argument over whether Nepal should accept only grants to develop bilateral Nepal-China projects or such projects can also be built with loans. In the end, the two main ruling parties—the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML—decided that there would be no loan deals during Oli’s China trip. The Congress had been adamant that Nepal cannot afford any more loans and as such there was no question of adding a financial burden to the country. As things stand, 12 projects are lined up for signing. An agreement on the ‘BRI framework for cooperation’ is also likely, which, at least in theory, should add momentum to old and new bilateral projects. There are multiple readings of the two ruling parties’ disagreements on negotiating with the Chinese. In one, the Congress, as the biggest ruling party, played a dubious role by unnecessarily tying the prime minister’s hands before an important visit.