PM Oli says won't allow Nepal's land to be used against China

Nepal Prime Minister, who is on a seven-day visit to China, has claimed that his country would not allow its land to be used under any pretext against Beijing.

Oli's Press Advisor, Pramod Dahal, on Tuesday issued a statement which said that Oli was thankful to the Chinese Government for showing respect towards its sovereignty and also extending its support towards Nepal, reports the Himalayan Times.

Addressing a programme organised by Renmin University on the theme "Nepal-China Relations in the context of One Belt-One Road Initiative" earlier, Oli said that Nepal was always in favour of One China policy.

The Prime Minister also stressed that deep relation between two countries on the basis of panchasheel principles would be stronger after the initiatives of 'One Belt One Road' programme.

Oli will be addressing entrepreneurs and hold a press conference with Chinese media organised at Embassy of Nepal in Beijing.

Meanwhile, both countries also inked an agreement on Nepal's membership as a Dialogue Partner of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

The SCO is an Eurasian political, economic and military organisation by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in Shanghai in 2001.

Presently, Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia have been granted observer status while Ufa Summit has decided to admit India and Pakistan as full members. The Dialogue Partners of the SCO are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

Nepal's Foreign Secretary Shankar Das Bairagi and the SCO General Secretary Rashid K. Alimov had signed the agreement while Nepal Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa, Ministers for Commerce and Education Deepak Bohara and Giriraj Mani Pokharel respectively, Secretaries and other members of the delegation witnessed the event.

Nepal had applied for the membership in 2007.