Nepal signs nine agreements with China during Wang Yi's visit

Nepal and China signed six agreements related to various projects on Saturday.

The Foreign Ministers of Nepal and China, Narayan Khadka and Wang Yi, respectively, witnessed the signing and exchange of agreements, MoUs and documents after delegation-level talks.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, one of the agreements is on a technical assistance scheme for the China-aided feasibility study of the cross-border railway.

Another is on on economic and technical cooperation, under which China will increase its annual assistance to Nepal from Rs 13 billion to Rs 15 billion and will finance some projects that will be mutually agreed upon between the two sides.

Another agreement is on cooperation on the feasibility study of the China-Nepal Power Grid interconnection where China will finance the new alignment of the Ratamate-Rasuwagadhi-Kerung transmission line.

Similarly, both sides have also signed a protocol on the safety and health conditions of haylage export from Nepal to China. Another agreement is about providing 98 per cent duty free treatment to imported goods in China.

Likewise, the Chinese side has handed over the certificate of Araniko highway maintenance project Phase III to Nepal.

Both sides have also also approved the minutes of the seventh meeting on enhancing cooperation in the railway sector, which took place in January 2022 in a virtual mode.

Another agreement is about Covid vaccine assistance to Nepal. China will donate an additional 4 million doses of Sinovac to Nepal.

The last one is a protocol on sending a Chinese medical team to work in Nepal.

Wang, who is also the State Councilor, arrived in Kathmandu on Friday after completing his working visit to India where he held talks with India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar.

--IANS

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