Oli carries embarrassing baggage

Prime Minister Oli's geopolitical game has reached a new low.

- AJAYA BHADRA KHANAL

Even as the Nepali public was deeply invested in discussing his impending visit to China, scheduled for December, a media report suggests he may go to India first, after all.

Normally, a bilateral visit would be a normal affair. Not this time. Oli's upcoming visit to China has become mired in geopolitical tension, domestic political conflict and potential embarrassments.

It's unfortunate. Nepal has once again failed to manage the India-China rivalry in a respectable and diplomatic manner. If Oli visits India first, it would likely result in the postponement or even cancellation of his visit to China.

Whether Oli visits India first or not, two factors make his visit to China significant.

The first is Nepal's seriousness in Nepal-China relations. As Nepal prepares for Oli's visit to China, news reports in the Nepali media indicate foreign policy disarray and lack of understanding about relations with China at the highest levels. Nepal has been repeatedly making the same commitments to China and reiterating the same agreements. In the last seven years, there has been little progress on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or on a majority of agreements that Nepal has signed.

The second is the failure of Chinese loans. As Oli goes to China, he takes with him a humiliating baggage: A message that Chinese loans in Nepal's tourism sector have failed because of corruption and kickbacks. This fact is all the more embarrassing because top political leaders in Nepal are responsible for the failures much more than the Chinese companies or China Exim Bank, which financed the projects.