(TibetanReview.net, Nov23’22) – China has provided a significant amount of fund to an NGO in Nepal which has strong links with former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, president of the Communist Party of Nepal (the CPN-UML). Oli is the most pro-China of Nepal’s leaders who had also made anti-India remarks when he was the country’s prime minister.
The payout, made by the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu, is believed to be about ten million Nepalese Rupees, reported the timesnownews.com Nov 22, citing “high-level sources”.
This is seen by some as interference with the country’s political process as the polling for general elections were underway.
The report said some of the members of the NGO, the Nepal Research Centre, were contesting the polls as candidates of Oli’s party.
“The Chinese have good reason to support Oli, for Nepal signed a crucial Transit and Transport agreement with China in 2015 when Oli was the PM,” the report noted.
The purpose of the deal was to develop an alternative route for the supply of goods into Nepal despite the fact that any transport through Chinese ruled Tibet is much longer and more expensive.
The support for Oli’s party is seen as China’s move to involve itself in strategic projects in Nepal. This includes building an optical fibre project linking towns like Galchi, Chitwan and Pokhara.
Besides, Chinese Study Centres are also mushrooming in Nepal, a country of 30 million people. There are already 32 centres and plans are afoot for another 40-45 more in a few years, the report noted.
A scholar’s group, organized by the Chinese embassy as part of the NGO, will study the political and economic situation of the Madhesi population of Nepal, who live close to the Indo-Nepal border. It will also look into the levels of education and employment of the Madhesis, the report said.