Nepal

In separate telephone conversations with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN-UML chair K.P. Sharma Oli and Maoist Centre chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Thursday, US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu said that Washington will review its relations with Nepal in the event of its failure to ratify the MCC compact from Parliament by February 28, according to multiple media reports in Kathmandu.

It is the first time there have been official claims from Nepal of Chinese interference in its territory, a BBC report said. The report was commissioned last September following claims that China has been trespassing in the district of Humla, in the far west of Nepal. China's embassy in Kathmandu denies there has been any encroachment. The Nepalese government has not yet responded to queries from the BBC.

The demonstrators protested against excessive Chinese interference in Nepal's internal affairs, encroachment of Nepali territory at various places along the northern border, China-imposed unofficial blockade at border points affecting Nepali traders, and the apathy shown towards Nepali students who are yet to complete their medical degrees from Chinese universities, among others, the report said.

This reaction comes in a response to a recent statement of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 30 in Uttarakhand. While addressing an election rally, Modi on December 30 announced that his government had built a road to Lipulekh and that there were more plans to extend it further.

Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit is a biennial event launched in 2003, and the 2022 event on January 10-12 is the 10th edition. A detailed itinerary was not immediately available but sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Deuba and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi is very much likely.

The very fact that within two years of formation of the Nepali Communist Party with the backing and blessings of the Chinese, the party split, giving away political space to the Nepali Congress, made the Chinese realise the gaps in their understanding of Nepali politics and the underlying dynamics. China has, thus, been trying to engage various political constituencies and representative bodies/organisations representing the non-Hill population, especially the Madhesis living in the Terai region adjacent to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

"Considering the high risks from the new variant of the coronavirus, we instructed our immigration offices on Sunday not to allow citizens of all the African countries, except those with official or diplomatic passports to enter the country with immediate effect," Phanindramani Pokharel, the Ministry's spokesman, told Xinhua.

To mark the event, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu on Monday organised a function where Namgya C. Khampa, Deputy Chief of the Mission, announced that 50,000 private houses as committed by the Centre in New Delhi, have been completed with the Owner Driven Reconstruction Approach adopted by Kathmandu.

The former KP Sharma Oli government last year issued a new map incorporating the disputed territories with India that pushed bilateral ties to an all-time low. This emerged as a major irritant in the Nepal-India relations, with Delhi calling Kathamndu's decision to publish the new map a cartographic assertion.

During his stay, General Sharma will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar, as well as the three service chiefs, according to the Nepal Army. On Tuesday, he will also be conferred the honorary rank of General in the Indian Army, a long-held tradition between the two armies. It will be presented by Indian President Ram Nath Kovind.