Kathmandu, August 16, 2005|11:19 IST
China has pledged to bail out cash-strapped Nepal with an additional aid of $12.3 million, a rare gesture by Beijing that has no strings attached.
The agreement signed in Beijing between Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and his Nepalese counterpart Ramesh Nath Pandey is an additional string in the cap of the latter who is on a 11-day visit to China at the invitation of the Chinese government.
The aid comes in addition to the Nepalese Rs 800 million Beijing has committed to Nepal as annual development assistance and which can be used in any area Kathmandu wants, from buying arms to paying civil servants' salaries.
It comes at a time when the cash-strapped government headed by King Gyanendra is looking at an over 60 per cent increase in donor aid to meet its nearly Rs 15 billion budget deficit this fiscal.
On August 13, as Nepal celebrated the 50th year of the establishment of diplomatic ties with China, King Gyanendra called Beijing the kingdom's 'all weather friend'.
The new aid will further cement ties between Nepal and its northern neighbour even as its relations with its southern neighbour India deteriorated further this month with the Royal Nepalese Army blaming Indian guns for its battle reverses with the Maoist guerrillas and New Delhi rebutting the allegation.
Both China and Nepal have also agreed to mutually waive visas for diplomats and government officials and allow multiple visas to businessmen. Currently, that is a friendship measure existing between India and Nepal. Nepalese need no visa or passport for going to India and residing there and vice versa.
China also agreed to allow Nepal to use its Tibet highway. With the Maoist insurgents often blocking highways in remote districts, Nepal's northernmost districts like Jumla and Humla, which lie next to the Tibetan border, face scarcity of food and essential goods.
According to the agreement with Beijing, now supplies can go from Kathmandu to Khasa on Nepal's side of the border, cross into Tibet and from there follow the Tibetan highway to reach Nepal's northern districts.
Besides the aid, China also made what is being seen as a symbolic gesture to show it was supporting King Gyanendra's government at a time several donor countries have distanced themselves from the regime.
Chinese President Hu Jintao, who generally meets only visiting heads of state and the most powerful dignitaries like the US Secretary of State, on Tuesday met the Nepalese Foreign Minister to discuss bilateral issues.
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Tuesday, August 16, 2005
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