Nepal's ruling party CPN-UML advises PM to conclude major bilateral deals with China

The Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) (United Marxist Leninist), also known as CPN-UML which is now leading the coalition government in the country, has advised Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli to conclude major bilateral agreements including the Transit and Transportation Agreement with the Chinese side in his forthcoming visit to China, a leader of the party said here Sunday.

A standing committee meeting of the CPN-UML at the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Capital City Kathmandu on Sunday urged Prime Minister Oli to utilize his visit to China as an opportunity to sign major bilateral cooperation deals with an objective of promoting bilateral relationship and cooperation.

"We have asked the prime minister to make this visit successful and take our age-old ties to a greater height. Especially, we suggested him to conclude major bilateral cooperation deals such as Transit and Transportation Agreement, agreement on importing fuel and gas in his visit," Spokesman of the party Yogesh Bhattarai told media.

The party has expressed hope that the visit will be historic in strengthening the bilateral relations.

Prime Minister Oli, who is also the chairman of CPN-UML, had convened the standing committee meeting to receive suggestions from party leaders regarding the China visit.

On the occasion, Prime Minister Oli informed the meeting of ongoing preparations for his upcoming China visit.

The Nepali prime minister will pay an official visit to China from March 20 at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang, Oli's Foreign Relations Expert Gopal Khanal told Xinhua.

The two sides will formally announce the exact date of the visit soon. This will be the first visit of the Nepalese head of the government to China after Nepal promulgated a much-awaited new Constitution on Sept. 20 last year. Enditem