Nepal PM Oli leaves for China to attend SCO Summit, meet Xi

Kathmandu, Aug 30 (PTI) Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on Saturday embarked on an official visit to China, where he will attend the SCO summit and meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

He is paying a visit from August 30 to September 3 at the invitation of President Xi. During the visit, he will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit and the commemoration of the "80th anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War".

Oli will meet President Xi in Tianjin and also address the SCO Plus Summit on Sunday.

He is scheduled to meet other world leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit.

Nepal’s political circle has urged Oli to raise the issue of the recent agreement between New Delhi and Beijing to resume trade through Lipulekh pass.

Nepal claims Lipulekh as its own territory, a claim that India has categorically rejected as "neither justified nor based on historical facts and evidence".

Earlier in the day, Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Balendra Shah extended his best wishes to Oli for the China visit and urged him to take up the issue with China.

While addressing the House of Representatives on Friday, Oli did not say if he would raise the matter with China, but later told reporters he would certainly do so with Chinese leaders.

Oli is being accompanied by his spouse Radhika Shakya, and his delegation includes Minister for Science and Education Raghuji Pant, Minister for Tourism and Culture Badri Pandey and other high-ranking government officials.  He will return to Kathmandu on September 3.

Oli is also scheduled to visit India, tentatively two weeks after his trip to China. PTI SBP GRS GRS GRS