As the preparations for Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s China visit reach the final stage, officials are holding last-minute negotiations with Chinese authorities on possible agreements to be signed in Beijing.

Leading a delegation of more than 87 members, Oli leaves for Beijing on Monday. As per the itinerary, he will return on Friday.

Oli and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba also got a briefing on the new text of the BRI framework for cooperation on Saturday from Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa. The proposal was prepared by a four-member joint taskforce of the Congress and the Oli-led CPN-UML.

After listening to the new text, the prime minister reportedly said: “The taskforce has prepared a beautiful document.”

Senior foreign ministry officials handed over the text to the Chinese Embassy on Saturday for Beijing’s consideration.

In the negotiations, according to Congress leaders, they first renamed the “BRI implementation plan” as “Framework for cooperation” and sent it to the Chinese side for their approval.

That’s because Nepal’s position was not to accept Chinese proposals as a whole and they wanted to negotiate projects on a case-by-case basis, according to the Congress leaders privy to the developments.

Several proposals in the Chinese text with strategic and political connotations were removed to make the document focused on economic cooperation and development which the BRI actually envisions, a Congress leader told the Post.

As per its policy, the coalition partner Congress insisted on taking grants for the projects prioritised by the Nepal government.

The Congress made significant changes to the original Chinese draft after removing several propositions that have political and strategic connotations. The Chinese side rejected that approach, the Congress leaders involved in the negotiations said.

After Chinese reservations and the UML’s conflicting position, “we reviewed and revisited the entire text of Beijing’s 2020 proposal over the past three weeks,” the aforementioned Congress leader said.

“We proposed a focus on our current needs. The process looked like negotiations between us [the Congress] and the Chinese side as the UML leaders did not open up much and sometimes seemed to toe the Chinese line,” another Congress leader said on the condition of anonymity. “At last we succeeded in convincing both the UML and the Chinese, and a new draft is ready and under China’s consideration.”

The position of the Congress was informally communicated to the Chinese side. After we communicated that we will rework the original text, we sat with the UML in the task force and came up with a final proposal. “Now the ball is in China’s court,” the Congress leader told the Post.

“With the Congress-UML agreement on the BRI, it will be easy for us to implement the BRI with Chinese cooperation,” wrote UML general secretary Shankar Pokhrel on his Facebook page on Saturday evening. “Earlier, we signed a memorandum of understanding on the BRI but no project could be executed.”

With the preparation of the new joint framework, it will be easier to expedite the BRI projects, Pokhrel writes.

“The way major parties come together on the BRI, it could be a good point to start preparing common positions on foreign affairs,” Pokhrel writes.

In the new draft, besides identifying limited areas of cooperation, the annex lists out the projects to be funded by China under the BRI framework. These are likely to be agreed during Oli’s visit. The initial Chinese reaction was positive but the understanding has not reached a stage of signing, said both Congress and UML leaders.

The overarching goal of the new text is to seek Chinese economic assistance and cooperation on various projects under different clusters. Negotiation for each project—financing and investment modality—will be conducted after project selection.

As per the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the last round of negotiations are underway with the Chinese side on the signing of the framework for the Belt and Road Initiative and some projects under different clusters.

For the first time, the Congress and the UML leaders read every sentence of the BRI implementation plan proposed by China and studied their long term impact on Nepal, Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba, who returned to Kathmandu on Saturday after meeting with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Chengdu, told the media at the Kathmandu airport.

“We signed the BRI framework in 2017 and whatever assistance and support we receive from China now is in the periphery of the BRI. Things have not moved beyond that,” Deuba said. “Mainly, we are focused on projects related to connectivity and cross-border infrastructure. The two parties agreed on a modality of future cooperation under the BRI framework.”

Before joining this government, the Congress had concluded that Nepal will not seek further loans under the BRI, she added. “So there should be no confusion.”

During the prime minister’s visit, the two sides will discuss old and new projects including the second phase of the Ring Road expansion and upgradation of the Araniko Highway under the BRI framework. “As per the understanding between the ruling parties, we will propose some new [connectivity] projects during the visit,” the foreign minister said.

In her meeting with Wang, according to a press note issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there was a discussion on developing (and executing) projects related to rail, road, civil aviation, electricity transmission and information highway between Nepal and Tibet under the framework of the Trans-Himalayan Multi-dimensional Connectivity Network.

Ruling party leaders and officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that since the Chinese side is comfortable and positive about the new text and it is likely to be signed during Oli’s visit. Officials said signs are that some projects would be agreed to during the visit.

“Negotiations with the Chinese side have been positive on both issues—signing of the framework for BRI cooperation and agreement on some projects,” Krishna Prasad Dhakal, the new foreign ministry spokesperson, told the Post.

The Nepali side, under the cluster ‘infrastructure, urban development and sports’ has proposed Tokha-Chhahre tunnel road, recognising the Tokha-Chhahre Bidur Highway as of strategic importance for Nepal-China trade.

“The Tokha-Chhahare tunnel is part of the road alignment from Samakhusi to Chhahre and further to Bidur in Bagmati Province of Nepal. This route provides a vital link between Kathmandu, Nuwakot and Rasuwagadhi, facilitating international trade with China,” reads the project objective document.

Other projects likely to be signed are Hilsa-Simikot road project, and Kimathanka-Khandbari road and the Kimathanka bridge project, which are identified as integral to the Koshi Corridor. This corridor aims to connect Nepal with Shigaste in Tibet, opening a shorter route to China. The Hilsa-Simikot road was envisioned a decade ago but it has yet to gain momentum. The road will span 146 km from Hilsa in Humla to Salisalla on Nepal’s border with China.

The two sides plan to sign a memorandum of understanding for building the Jilong/Kerung-Kathmandu cross-border railway whose feasibility study is being undertaken with a Chinese grant. A podway project linking Kathmandu and Heutada as an eco-friendly and efficient transport system is also on the signing list. Likewise, construction of the Amargadhi city hall in Dadeldhura as a hi-tech auditorium is also on the cards.

On the energy cluster, Nepal has proposed to build the 220KV Jilong/Keyrung-Rasuwagadhi-Chilime cross-border power transmission line to establish a direct power link between Nepal and China. Another project is the Kathmandu Valley Transmission Line Upgrade to address the issue of increasing power load demand in Kathmandu.

Under the cluster of education and health, the Nepali side has proposed construction works for Madan Bhandari University of Science and Technology, which aims to provide quality education in science and technology and develop highly skilled and proficient technical professionals of international calibre. Establishment of the Kathmandu Centre and Science Museum has also been proposed.

Under the cluster of industrial and trade infrastructure, the much touted China-Nepal Friendship Park, and Jhapa Sports and Athletic Complex are proposed for joint development.

All these 12 projects are under the annex of the proposed “Framework for BRI cooperation”.

Nepal seeks Chinese grants to fund these projects, said officials, clarifying that the grants announced by China in the past one-and-a-half decades can be used to build them.

Whether these projects will fall under the BRI rubric is still unclear but Nepali leaders and officials said the top priority for Kathmandu would be to receive grants to execute them.

“In my meeting with Wang, I have made it clear that we are not in a position to take loans to fund the projects. They listened to our concerns carefully,” Foreign Minister Deuba said.

According to the foreign ministry, Deuba reiterated Nepal’s support for the “One China Principle” and vowed not to allow any activity against China on the Nepali territory. Both sides are learnt to have reaffirmed their support for national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-interference in a country’s internal issues.