Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has assured cross-party leaders of not signing any loan agreement with China during his visit to the northern neighbour scheduled to start on December 2.

He made the statement during a consultation meeting with former prime ministers and foreign ministers, among other leaders, from various political parties on Monday, seeking their feedback on his visit.

Discussing the subject of the Belt and Road Initiative of China, the prime minister claimed that whether or not to take loan from China was not a disputed issue at the time, though the matter is being debated in public, read a press note issued by the prime minister’s secretariat.

“We can take loan or grants based on our national interest and our needs with any country or international agency but we shouldn’t swayed by the the baseless rumours such as we are taking loans that would put us on a debt trap,” Prime Minister Oli told the leaders attending the meeting he convened at the prime minister’s office. “We have an age-old friendly relation with China and we are visiting the country to further strengthen our bilateral friendship.”

He claimed that there were no differences between the two major ruling parties –the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML–and that the rumours saying the two parties had disputes were baseless, according to the secretariat.

“Safeguarding our sovereignty, independence and national interests are our topmost priorities no matter whichever country we visit first,” the secretariat quoted the prime minister as saying. “Please rest assured that we will do nothing except those that are in favour of Nepal’s interests and world peace.”

He informed that the government was making preparations for the visit with a plan to emphasise the implementation of the past agreements reached between the two countries, expansion of transmission lines, export of Nepali goods to China and expediting some assistance agreements.

He said the government was maintaining equally friendly relations with the other neighbour–India–and was working to reap benefits from the huge progress made by both neighbours.

Decisions about Nepal’s executive head of the government’s foreign visits should be made based on the country’s needs and shouldn’t be described as a ‘card played against any other neighbour’.

He was referring to the remarks made by the Chairman of CPN (Maoist Centre) Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Former prime minister Dahal in an interview with Indian newspaper The Hindu earlier this month, had claimed that Prime Minister Oli is ‘playing the China card’ in relation to his planned trip.

At the meeting, Dahal clarified that he was the one who visited China first after becoming prime minister in his first tenure in 2008. “The intention of the remarks was to say that we shouldn’t play any card when it comes to the country’s politics which is always insatiable,” the prime minister’s secretariat quoted Dahal as saying.

The Maoist chairman suggested Oli prioritise the implementation of the agreements signed during his China visit.

Foreign Minister Arzu Rana briefed the cross-party leaders about the ministry’s preparations for the visit. She said that there were no differences between the two parties over the agendas of the visit.

Former prime ministers Jhalanath Khanal, Madhav Kumar Nepal and chairman of the election government Khilraj Regmi gave feedback to the prime minister.

Also, former foreign ministers including Ishwar Pokhrel, Narayankaji Shrestha, Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, NP Saud, Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, Prakash Chandra Lohani and Bimala Rai Paudyal participated in the consultation meeting.