BEIJING: Irked by Prachanda’s visit to New Delhi, state-run Chinese media has criticised India for trying to “turn tables” against China and lashed out at the new Nepal Prime Minister for “tricking” Beijing and putting bilateral ties on “back burner” at the behest of India.
China “feels tricked” that Nepal got close to Beijing to “relieve pressure” from India and signed a number of crucial agreements with Beijing to help get rid of its reliance on New Delhi but later put ties on “back-burner” after the “pressure” somewhat relaxed, an article in state-run Global Times said.
In a scathing attack on Prachanda and India, two articles in the newspaper pointed to China’s anger over the regime change in Kathmandu replacing pro-China former Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli. “Prachanda is no more “furious” as he was once described, but rather has more realistic considerations for political interest,” one article said, recalling his choice to visit China first in 2008 during his previous tenure. During his tour to India this time, the Pancheshwar Project, reconstruction after the earthquake and the East-West Railway programme were on the agenda of high-level meetings. However, all those are among the “core subjects” of China’s Belt and Road (Silk Road) initiative that can benefit Nepal, it said. “Against such a backdrop, people cannot help but ask whether Prachanda is seeking reconciliation with New Delhi or maintaining Nepal’s status of being controlled by India,” it said. “It seems that the relationship between Nepal and China stalled abruptly, and a visit by Chinese leaders to Nepal has allegedly been suspended – an unprecedented situation,” it said, without directly referring to postponement of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s planned to visit to Kathmandu next month. The article said that the bilateral relationship between China and Nepal seems to have “suddenly turned fragile and sensitive”. “Obviously, China feels tricked. When Kathmandu needed Beijing to relieve pressure from New Delhi, it got close to China and signed a series of crucial agreements with Beijing which would help Nepal get rid of its reliance on India. “But once India’s attitude toward Kathmandu relaxed a bit and the former made some promises to the latter, Nepalese politicians immediately put the nation’s ties with China on the back burner,” it said. The article added that in the Sino-Nepalese relationship, Kathmandu is the “one that always gets more. Beijing will lose nothing, but it is Nepal that needs to consider whether it will miss more opportunities”. Another article in the same daily titled “Good ties with China, India in Nepal’s best interest” accused India of ‘turning tables’ against China. “Alarmed by China’s rising influence in Nepal, India is now trying to turn the tables. But such narrow-minded geopolitical logic will do favour to nobody,” it said.—PTI
