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When you hear about Nepal, I believe many people will feel unfamiliar.
As a matter of fact, Nepal is a neighbor of the mainland, and has always maintained friendly relations with the mainland, and there is also a trade cooperation relationship between the two sides.
Earlier, it was pointed out that Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Shrestha will visit China at the invitation of the mainland.
This is also Nepal's first foreign visit after the reshuffling of the cabinet, and our country naturally attaches great importance to this.
It's just that before the visit to Nepal, they actually put forward a jaw-dropping demand, that is, they hope that Chinese companies can waive all the repayments for the construction of airports in Nepal.
Will our country be able to accede to such a request?
1. The fate of China and Nepal
Nepal is a small country with a population of just over 30 million and is surrounded by China and India.
This country is bordered by India on three sides, while the northern part is bordered by mainland land, which is a neighbor of our country.
If you go back in history, you can see that the country still has strong ties with the mainland.
Historically, Nepal has invaded the mainland, but their aggressive intentions were crushed by the Manchu dynasty.
After the end of the war, some Nepalese troops did not return to China, but stayed in the border areas of the mainland, living in harmony with the Tibetans on the mainland.
It's just that they are all black households, and it was not until after the establishment of New China that the surviving Nepalese descendants became Chinese nationals and obtained the naturalization certificate issued by the mainland.
Of course, the war of aggression at that time had long ended, and now the diplomatic relations between New China and Nepal have entered a new dimension.
As early as 1955, Nepal established diplomatic relations with our country, and over the years, the traditional friendship and friendly cooperation between China and Nepal have also continued to develop.
Although Nepal's economic development is not good, it has long relied on foreign aid from countries around the world to develop its economy, and it is one of the poorest countries in the world.
However, since Nepal became a member of the United Nations, it has not turned to the developed countries of the West like some other countries, but has firmly stood on the perspective of the mainland.
Nepal has also expressed its support for the mainland as it seeks to restore its lawful seat in the United Nations.
Our country is naturally grateful for this, and since then, it has often provided some trade and economic assistance to Nepal, after all, there are many restrictions on the economic development of Nepal.
Nepal's terrain is mostly mountainous and river valleys, which are not suitable for crop growth, and agricultural development is not guaranteed.
In order to ensure the growing material needs of the people, the Nepalese government must meet them through import channels.
Under such circumstances, the development of various industries in Nepal will inevitably be limited due to the lack of funds.
In order to achieve better development, the Nepalese government decided to build an airport in Pokhara, the second city.
On the one hand, it is to ensure the transportation cost of related trade products, and on the other hand, it is hoped that the development of the country will be accelerated through tourism.
Although the plan is quite perfect, the Nepalese government has no choice but to seek help from other countries due to the lack of relevant technology and start-up capital.
And their first choice is China, after all, our country is quite famous in the field of infrastructure, and has always pursued a foreign policy of friendly exchanges.
Nepal will certainly be the first to turn to our country for help, and our country naturally agreed.
After reaching the relevant cooperation plan, the Chinese company immediately began to carry out the construction of the project.
It took several years, and in 2023 the airport was finally ready for operation.
It is also the first modern airport in Nepal and will play a significant role in the development of Nepal's trade industry and tourism.
In addition to the construction of related projects, the two countries have also maintained close coordination and cooperation in international and regional affairs.
2. Nepal made a request
Last year, Nepal's prime minister visited China to discuss the follow-up industrial and trade cooperation between the two countries.
At the end of March this year, Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Shrestha will visit China again at the invitation of Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
This time, however, Nepal's prime minister seems to have come in at a request.
Before he departed on the special plane, he conveyed a request to the outside world, expressing the hope that our country would be exempted from the costs associated with the construction of Nepal's Pokhara airport.
It is reported that the project was financed by the Export-Import Bank of the mainland to the Nepalese side.
China Industrial International Engineering Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the mainland's machinery industry group, has contracted the corresponding project.
The project officially started construction in July 2017 and lasted for a total of 4 years, but it was stopped for a year due to the impact of the new crown epidemic.
Until January 2023, the airport, which was built by Chinese enterprises, was officially put into operation.
The importance of the airport is self-evident to Nepal, but it will take almost four years for the airport to be completed.
Presumably, our country's enterprises have also provided a great boost to Nepal in terms of financing, and the amount of funds involved must be extremely large.
Such a grand project naturally cannot be done in vain, and Nepal will definitely return the funds through subsequent development, but now they actually hope that the mainland can waive the subsequent repayment.
You know, this involves a huge amount of money, and if our country agrees, it will be equivalent to giving Nepal this huge amount of money.
Is this demand from the Nepalese side reasonable, and can our country agree to it?
3. Will the mainland agree?
From an objective point of view, this demand put forward by the Nepalese side is certainly not very reasonable.
The construction of Pokhara Airport is an important project under our country's Belt and Road Initiative, but it is a bit unreasonable to convert all the loan funds into grants.
Indeed, Nepal is a small agricultural country with a backward economy, and its economic development has always been relatively weak.
It was not until the 90s of the last century that a market-oriented policy of liberal economic development was introduced.
However, due to the volatile political situation in the country and the corresponding weak infrastructure, the relatively liberal market economy policy has not achieved good results.
Judging from the relevant economic data of the 2018~2019 fiscal year, Nepal's local GDP is only 30.4 billion US dollars, and the domestic per capita output value is only about 1049 US dollars.
As can be seen, relatively liberal economic policies have not saved Nepal's market development either.
At present, Nepal is still heavily dependent on foreign aid budget expenditure, one-quarter of which comes from donations and loans from other countries.
Considering this issue, it is only natural that our country can understand Nepal's desire to waive the requirements for the repayment of the corresponding airport loans.
After all, Nepal's economic plight is indeed worthy of sympathy, but because the amount of money involved in this project is so large, it is not so easy for our country to turn it all into grants.
Of course, this request of the Nepalese side has not yet been confirmed, and presumably the purpose of its foreign minister's visit to China is to negotiate with our country on this matter.
What is now clear is that if Nepal's foreign minister did make a corresponding request.
Then our country will also reach a relatively balanced agreement with the Nepalese side through friendly negotiations and find a proper solution.
After all, our country is always willing to provide support and assistance to Nepal, but it must be based on the basis of not harming the interests of both sides.
All in all, it is not surprising how our country will take a position on the issue of the corresponding loan forgiveness.
However, it is worth noting that some public opinion may affect the negotiation of this matter.
As early as last year, when the airport was put into market operation, the Prime Minister of Nepal attended the commissioning meeting.
Although he spoke highly of the airport at the time,
However, within days, the Nepalese government announced a quality investigation of Pokhara Airport based on a US media report questioning the airport's quality.
Such a move is naturally very incomprehensible, and at the same time it has hurt the trust and friendship between the two countries.
In the follow-up development, the mainland's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning also expressed a solemn position on this.
He pointed out that this act of the Nepalese side ignores the long-term cooperative relations and friendship between China and Nepal.
On this issue, many netizens also expressed their opinions.
They said that the Nepalese side received assistance from our country to build this modern airport.
However, after the completion of the airport, the quality of the airport was questioned because of the media opinion published by other Western countries, which is also a bit too much.
Nepal has not given full trust to our country, and now it wants to ask our country to forgive the loan repayment and give it to Nepal completely, which is really difficult to grant.
brief summary
Judging from relevant media reports, the Nepalese foreign minister will arrive on the mainland in the near future, and the visit to China will continue until April 1.
In the course of his current visit to China, Nepal's foreign minister will certainly hold talks with mainland leaders on the follow-up development of Sino-Nepalese relations.
However, long before his visit to China, the Nepalese foreign minister actually conveyed a very shocking request to the outside world.
That is, it is hoped that all airports built by Chinese companies will be exempted from repayment.
Given Nepal's specific economic development, their demands are understandable, but this does not mean that our country should accede to Nepal's demands on the basis that it is detrimental to our national interests.
With the development of time, it is presumable that our country will also make a clear statement on this matter.
So what do you think about this? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area below, communicate and discuss with the author, and finally don't forget to like and forward.
Reference:
https://baic.soku.com/m/v6744.hdm?ch=choku.country.vr