With just one month to go for Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s scheduled visit to China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working to finalise the visit’s agenda in coordination with various government agencies.

Dahal is scheduled to visit China straight from New York on September 22 after addressing the 78th session of the United Nations general assembly. The prime minister is scheduled to address the UN general assembly on September 21, but before that, Dahal and Nepali delegations will participate in various meetings including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit on September 18 and 19 in the capacity of being the current chair of the least developed countries.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working on the agenda of the prime minister’s China visit and has already started consultations with various line ministries. The ministry is taking stock of the past agreements reached with the northern neighbour, the status of various China-funded projects, and whether Nepal can take up any new projects during the visit, said the foreign ministry officials.

Prime Minister Dahal has already announced that he is going to discuss and probably sign some agreements regarding the construction of the two cross-border transmission lines between Nepal and China, and there could be an agreement on bilateral power trade.

Officials at the Ministry of Energy and state-owned Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) are preparing the paperwork for the construction of two transmission lines—220kV Chilime-Kerung and Kimathanka-Zhentang (Chentang), which is located in the Tinkey County of China.

Addressing the 38th anniversary of the NEA on Friday, Prime Minister Dahal said that the government was moving ahead with the plan to build the 220kV Chilime-Kerung cross-border power line.

“The prime minister could ask the Chinese side for the construction of Kimathanka-Arun hydroelectric (KAHEP) project located in Bhotkhola Rural Municipality-2 of Sankhuwasabha district with an installed capacity of 452 megawatts,” said an aide to the prime minister.

The prime minister has mentioned that he will request China to fund a mega project through grant, but has not divulged the name of the project yet and whether it will be a project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or outside it.

On Monday, while addressing a public function in Surkhet, Dahal said that priority is being given to the construction of the Hisla-Surkhet road section during his upcoming China visit. “My China visit is going to be a productive one,” said the prime minister while marking the Karnali Province Day.

“The construction of Hisla-Surkhet road will be my priority,” said Dahal. “I am confident that we will make a solid presentation this time,” he added.

The Hisla-Surkhet project is part of the Karnali Corridor.

Besides the Hilsa-Surkhet road section, the Ministry of Physical Planning and Transportation has some more plans that it wants to add to the prime minister’s visit agenda. “We are considering constructing two more corridors,” Keshav Sharma, secretary at the Ministry of Physical Planning and Transportation said. “We have some projects handy and are going to discuss them with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ascertain whether they can be discussed further.”

The ministry said the Gandaki Corridor, Koshi Corridor, and the upgrade of the Araniko highway are some of the possible projects that the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transportation wants to put on its wish list for the prime minister’s China visit.

During the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Nepal in October 2019, the Chinese side had agreed to support the construction of three north-south economic corridors namely, the Koshi economic corridor, Gandaki economic corridor, and the Karnali economic corridor.

“The detailed feasibility study for the Kimathangka-Leguwaghat road is likely to be pushed during the visit under the Koshi economic corridor,” said an aide to the prime minister. “It is, however, unlikely that any proposal will be submitted for the construction of the Gandaki economic corridor.”

The Chinese side noted the request made by the Nepali side for the construction of the Kimathanka-Leguwa Ghat section of the Koshi Highway and agreed to consider this project in future cooperation plan and requested the Nepali side to submit a detailed proposal, said a joint communiqué released after the state visit of Chinese President Xi in 2019.

“The two sides reiterated their commitment to undertake a study on the possibility of cooperation, as reflected in the joint statement issued in Beijing on June 21, 2018, for the development of the three north-south corridors in Nepal, namely Koshi Economic Corridor, Gandaki Economic Corridor, and Karnali Economic corridor, in order to create jobs and improve local livelihoods, and stimulate economic growth and development,” the statement added.

During the official visit of the then prime minister KP Sharma Oli to China in June 2018, the Nepali side had expressed its willingness to speed up the development of the three north-south economic corridors in Nepal in order to create jobs and improve local livelihoods, stimulate economic growth and development in those areas. Both sides had agreed to further study the possibility of cooperation in these corridors.

Officials from various ministries said that they are preparing to make various requests—from opening up the border points to speeding up the past agreements and projects funded by China, construction of the border infrastructures, and economic cooperation— for inclusion on the visit agenda.

Foreign Minister NP Saud said preparations for the prime minister’s China visit have already started. “The officials are doing their homework, taking stock of the status of various projects, and seeking new areas of cooperation that could be discussed and signed during the visit,” said Saud. “Once senior officials will conclude their consultations, I will take the lead in order to finalise the agenda of the visit,” he added.