China has pledged to give 8 million Yuan grant assistance to Nepal for the agricultural sector.
The decision was taken during a meeting between House of Representatives Speaker Devraj Ghimire and Yuan Jiajun, a politburo member of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), here on Monday.
Yuan arrived here on Sunday on a three-day visit to Nepal, leading a 26-member delegation. He pledged to provide 8 million Yuan/ INR 9.16 crore assistance to Nepal for the promotion of the agriculture sector in all the seven provinces across the country, sources close to Speaker Ghimire said on Tuesday.
Ghimire met the Chinese leader on Monday and the assistance was announced during the meeting, they said.
Yuan met Speaker Ghimire, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayankaji Shrestha, CPN-UML chairman KP Sharma Oli among others and called on President Ramchandra Paudel during the visit.
China has been investing heavily in various infrastructural projects in Nepal, leading to the Himalayan nation’s growing reliance on Chinese financing. These actions are consistent with Beijing’s debt-trap diplomacy, as seen in other countries like Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Last year, China had pledged Rs 15 billion in grant assistance to Nepal to invest in various projects this year in the landlocked Himalayan nation after visiting Foreign Minister Narayan Khadka held wide-ranging talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to further cement the bilateral ties.
Both sides expressed satisfaction over the progress made in a range of matters of bilateral cooperation since the official visit of Wang to Nepal in March this year. Wang, also a State Councillor, announced that China will provide a Rs 15 billion (800 million RMB) grant to Nepal to invest in projects selected by Nepal for the year 2022.
They also announced three million RMB worth disaster relief materials as per Nepal’s request. “China will also provide Nepal with an additional 12 million RMB worth of medical items and logistics,” according to the statement.
