In a bid to woo its land-locked southern neighbour, China on Saturday offered $135 million in aid to Nepal to beef up its infrastructure and security during a brief surprise visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
Holding hectic parleys with Nepalese counterpart Baburam Bhattarai, President Ram Baran Yadav, Maoist chief Prachanda and leaders of other parties, Mr Wen inked as many as eight agreements amid a virtual media blackout.
His trip was conducted in complete secrecy and under a security lockdown with police and paramilitary forces deployed in and around the capital. The security forces had, as a precautionary measure, detai-ned a large number of Tibetan refugees.
“The visit has proven a milestone in the development of friendly ties between the two neighbouring countries,” dep-uty prime minister and foreign minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha told reporters.
The delegation-level talks headed by Mr Bhattarai and Mr Wen were held in a cordial atmosphere and the two sides agreed to strengthen bilateral relations, expanding economic cooperation, he said.
Under a series of agreements, Beijing agreed to provide massive assistance for a number of Nepal’s infrastructure projects and also bank-roll the modernisation of the country’s police. China offered 750 million RMB ($119 million) in aid to Nepal during the visit.