Pact with India won't affect ties with China, says Nepal PM Dahal

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal after returning from a four-day visit to India said that bilateral ties with China would not be affected by the agreements he had reached with New Delhi.

"We have maintained balanced relations with both our neighbours," he said on Sunday at the Tribhuvan Inter-national Airport, claiming that his India visit was "highly successful and fruitful," reports Kathmandu Post.

Dahal said that his visit had taken the ties with New Delhi to a new level, adding the dynamics of Nepal's relations with India and China is different.

He added, "The characteristics of our relations with India and China are different. Relations with one side will not affect the other."

Dahal also defended some points mentioned in the joint statement issued after the meetings.

Referring to a point that said both countries hold similar views on major international issues, Dahal said it meant that Nepal supports India's candidacy for permanent membership of the UN Security Council.

"Nepal and India will have similar positions in international forums in agreed matters. This is not a new thing," he said, adding that Kathmandu had been backing New Delhi's bid for a UNSC seat since 2004.

On the inclusion of the constitutional concern in the joint statement, Dahal defended that the whole world knew about the need to implement the statute by bringing all dissatisfied factions on board.