KATHMANDU: Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', the ruling Nepal Communist Party's co-chairman, described Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Nepal as a "watershed moment" in the bilateral ties and said it has laid a foundation for forging a trilateral partnership involving India.
Talking to reporters at a tea reception hosted by the party in the capital on the occasion of the Vijaya Dashami and Chhath festivals, the former prime minister called for forging trilateral partnership among Nepal, China and India.
"I had taken up the matter of forging trilateral partnership between three countries during my talks with top leadership of China and India some time back.
I believe that the recent visit of Chinese President Xi to Nepal has laid a foundation to materialise the idea," he said.
Prachanda said that President Xi's visit was a "watershed moment in the bilateral ties between Nepal and China".
Xi, also the General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China, held talks with Prachanda on Sunday and the two leaders agreed to reinforce inter-party exchanges.
He described Prachanda as a "good" and an "old friend" of the Chinese people.
"Xi's visit to Nepal has multiple dimensions and one of them is about laying the foundation for forging a trilateral partnership between China, Nepal and India," Prachanda said.
The visit of the Chinese President has added a new dimension in Nepal's foreign policy, Prachanda said, adding that the agreements reached between the two sides will be beneficial in the long run.
"President Xi's commitment to helping Nepal to realise its dream to transform itself from landlocked country to a land-linked country suggests that our bilateral cooperation has entered a new era," he said.
He said that the recent talks between President Xi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the prospect of having "two plus one" format for dialogue is welcome news at a time when Nepal is pushing forward the concept of trilateral partnership.
During his meeting with Nepalese counterpart Bidya Devi Bhandari on Saturday, President Xi announced a support of 3.5 billion RMB equivalent to Nepalese Rs 56 billion to Nepal over the next two years to help the country's development programmes.
During Xi's visit, the first Chinese president to travel to Nepal in 23 years, the two countries decided to elevate their bilateral ties to a strategic partnership of cooperation and agreed to respect each other's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.