China asks Nepal to join its new international mediation organisation

China has asked Nepal to join the newly formed International Organisation for Mediation as Beijing wants more countries, besides Pakistan, from the South Asian region to join the initiative formed to further its global influence.

The International Organisation for Mediation (IOMed) was launched on Friday in Hong Kong.

State-run Xinhua news agency reported that 33 countries signed the convention on-site, making them the founding members of the IOMed. However, the full member list is not yet released.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi who launched the initiative met his Nepali counterpart Arzu Rana Deuba on the sidelines of the ceremony in Hong Kong on Friday and expressed hope that Nepal will join IOMed at an early date, an official press release said here.

Deuba attended the IOMed inaugural event but apparently Nepal has not signed up to join it.

We discussed various aspects of Nepal-China bilateral ties, including high-level exchanges and development cooperation, Deuba said in a post on X after the meeting.

Look forward to continue working together towards further strengthening relations between the two countries, she added in the post on X.

Wang said China and Nepal are traditional friendly neighbours and China places Nepal in an important position in its neighbourhood diplomacy.

For her part, Deuba congratulated China on the successful signing ceremony of the IOMed and said that it is an ideal choice to have the IOMed headquarters in Hong Kong, according to the press release.

Beijing's all-weather ally Pakistan has signed up for the IOMed and its Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar attended the signing ceremony.

During their meeting, Wang told Dar that China is willing to work with Pakistan and other countries to provide voluntary and efficient new options for dispute settlement for all countries, and a new platform for maintaining peace, stability, fairness and justice in the Global South, the foreign ministry press release said.