Nepalese PM Oli raises India-China Lipulekh trade route issue with China’s Xi Jinping

Kathmandu, Aug 30 (PTI) Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on Saturday raised an objection to an agreement reached between India and China to use Lipulekh as a trade route during a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tianjin, according to his secretariat.

Nepal claims Lipulekh as its own territory, a claim that India has categorically rejected as "neither justified nor based on historical facts and evidence." "Prime Minister Oli, on the occasion, clearly raised its objection to the agreement reached between India and China to use Lipulekh, a Nepalese territory, as a trade route," the PM's secretariat said in a statement quoting Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai.

“Nepal believes that China will cooperate with Nepal in this regard," the Prime Minister was quoted as saying in the statement.

The two leaders also agreed to strengthen bilateral ties and cooperation, it said.

"They also agreed to move forward the bilateral mechanism for enhancing bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries," the statement added.

Oli reached Tianjin Saturday afternoon. He held a bilateral meeting with President Xi in the Guest House situated in Tianjin.

Prime Minister Oli is accompanied by his spouse Radhika Shakya, Minister for Science and Education Raghuji Panta, Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Badri Pandey and other high-level government officials. He is on an official visit to China to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit 2025. PTI SBP RD ZH RD RD