Nepal wants its independence, sovereignty to be respected: Oli

Nepal, sandwiched between India and China, wants its independence and sovereignty to be respected and honoured, Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli said today.
He said with the promulgation of a new Constitution last year, "we have been successful in institutionalising democracy, federalism and republic system" and now "there is a need to move forward towards economic prosperity and development".
"We need to follow our own development model for speedy development of the country and for that we need to be innovative and creative," Oli added.
"Though Nepal is a small country sandwiched between two giant neighbours, we want our independence to be respected and sovereignty honoured," he said at a symposium on "Nepal China relations: New avenues and possibilities" organised by International Concern Centre here.

During the recent Madhesi agitation, Oli and other leaders had alleged that India had imposed an "undeclared blockade" on Nepal to back the Indian-origin Madhesis. India had firmly denied imposing the blockade.
Nepali leaders had also alleged that India wanted to impose its terms on Nepal, infringing the country's sovereignty.

Commenting on his recent week-long official visit to China, Oli said it was successful as it has opened up new era for Nepal.
Oli termed the 10 agreements reached between Nepal and China during his visit as important and underlined the need to implement them at the earliest.
"We have to build a mechanism for implementing these agreements and for follow-up actions. We also need to build a separate mechanism to implement the agreements signed with India during the official visit to India and there is a need for follow up actions.

Highlighting the importance of trilateral relations among China-Nepal-India, Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Wu Chuntai said that China hopes Nepal would benefit from development in China and India.
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"I have felt time and again that Nepal is a country blessed by Lord Shiva and Lord Buddha," Ambassador Wu said.
He said China and Nepal are close neighbours that enjoy permanent friendship and comprehensive cooperation.
"China firmly supports Nepal's efforts to safeguard sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity as well as Nepalese people's choice of development path. We will not interfere in Nepal's internal affairs. China encourages to set-up branches of Chinese banks in Nepal," Wu said.

During his visit, Oli signed signed a number of bilateral agreements with China, most notably one on transit facilities through the Communist giant.