Nepal should finalise all the projects under China's ambitious BRI since the multi billion project was purely an economic cooperation and not a military alliance, former prime minister and Co-chairman of the ruling Nepal Communist Party Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" said on Sunday.
Speaking at a symposium titled "BRI Dialogue" in Kathmandu, Dahal said Nepal's projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) should not be delayed since it would contribute to the country's socio-economic development.
"BRI is not a military alliance. Rather, it seeks to promote mutual cooperation between various countries that are part of it. We should not delay in finalising the projects under the BRI. I think the time has to come to speed up the projects in accordance with our priority and needs," he said.
The BRI is a multi-billion-dollar initiative launched by Chinese President Xi in 2013. India has been severely critical of BRI as the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is part of the BRI, passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
India says it cannot accept a project that ignores its core concern on sovereignty and territorial integrity
Nepal decided to join the BRI when Dahal became the prime minister of the country for the second time in 2017"with the hope that it would contribute to the economic development.
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Various projects, including a multi-dimensional connectivity network and other rail projects, are due in Nepal under the BRI, the Himalayan Times reported.
Stating that BRI is primarily about collective efforts of the various countries to achieve economic development by enhancing rail-road and maritime connectivity, Dahal said that many countries have already started getting benefits from the BRI by executing projects under the initiative.
"Some countries have also expressed some reservations in the biggest ever project of the 21st century. But least developed countries like Nepal have fully supported the BRI," he said.
Dahal said that countries part of the BRI can identify projects based on their national priorities and interests.
He said that Nepal wants to have good ties with both of its neighbours--India and China.
"Nepal wants to reap benefit from the economic rise of both China and India," he said.
Prachanda also underlined the need for forging trilateral partnership, among Nepal, India and China.
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