The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said preparations for Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s upcoming China visit are in the final stage. Oli is embarking on an official visit to China on August 30 to take part in the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the “SCO Plus” meeting in the Chinese city of Tianjin, from August 31 to September 1.

He is scheduled to travel to Tianjin, China on a chartered flight of Himalayan Airlines, accompanied by a small team, according to officials.

This will be Oli’s second visit to China since becoming prime minister for the fourth time in July last year. Earlier, Oli went on an official visit to China from December 2 to 5, 2024. At the SCO Summit, Prime Minister Oli will address the SCO Plus meeting.

Oli is also scheduled to meet both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines. Leaders from countries that are not SCO members are invited to speak at SCO Plus. Preparations for the visit to the SCO Summit are in the final stages, said foreign ministry spokesperson, Lok Bahadur Poudel Chettri.

During the high-level and sideline meetings, Oli will push Nepal’s desire for an elevation from SCO dialogue partner to observer. “Though we wish to be an SCO member eventually, there is a certain process to follow, so we are now pitching to be an observer,” said a foreign ministry official.

Nepal has already made a request for separate high-level meetings with Indian Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi, according to officials. There is also a proposal from the Chinese side for a trilateral meeting between Oli, Modi and Xi, said another foreign ministry official familiar with the visit preparations.

The Chinese side has long pushed for a trilateral meeting between Nepal, India and China. They have also proposed ‘China, India plus one’ in the South Asia region, according to sources. But foreign ministry officials neither denied nor confirmed such a meeting. “There have been some hints of the trilateral meeting. But nothing has been confirmed. These things usually happen at the last moment,” an official at the foreign ministry told the Post.

Oli is expected to raise the recent agreement between India and China on the Lipulekh pass during his meetings with Modi and Xi. Just last week, India and China had agreed to resume trade via the Lipulekh pass, historically a Nepali territory, which India has claimed over the past few decades. Nepal government has already expressed its disagreement with the latest India-China agreement.

“The prime minister is preparing to raise this matter with due importance in his meetings with both Modi and Xi,” said a senior official at the Prime Minister’s Office familiar with the briefings. Besides other bilateral matters, the prime minister will object to the recent deal, according to officials from multiple government agencies.

Prime Minister Oli’s upcoming visit to India, expected to begin from September 16, will also be discussed during his meeting with Modi in China. “This is going to be an excellent platform for both prime ministers to discuss the upcoming visit to India,” said an official at the prime minister’s office.

With President Xi, the prime minister will discuss the implementation of past accords and agreements between Nepal and China, as well as new political, developmental, and economic issues.

Nepal has been a dialogue partner of the SCO since 2020, and this will be the first high-level participation from Nepal in an SCO summit.

The Prime Minister’s delegation will include Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai, Joint Secretary in charge of the China Division Bhrigu Dhungana, Chief of Protocol Kumar Kharel, prime minister’s chief advisor Bishnu Rimal, officials at Nepali Embassy in Beijing, and security personnel.