KATHMANDU, Oct 17: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Monday said that India and China are positive on a trilateral partnership.

Speaking to journalists at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) upon his arrival from Goa, India after attending BRICS-BIMSTEC Outreach Summit, PM Dahal said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping were positive on trilateral partnership among Nepal, India and China.  

Prime Minister Dahal said that he wanted to hold a one-to-one talk with the Chinese President, adding that the unfolding of events for a trilateral meeting was a great opportunity.

“I was waiting for the Chinese President. We started talks following his arrival. Then, the Indian Prime Minister came to the room,” he said, “Three of us being in a same room was purely technical.”    

Saying that the meet was not a formal trilateral meeting, PM Dahal said that talks were however held on trilateral partnership.

The Prime Minister remarked that the sitting arrangements reflected Nepal’s geographic location.

“The Chinese President sat toward north and the Indian Prime Minister toward south. And, I was in the middle,” he said, “I told them that Nepal wants to work as a bridge between China and India just like the sitting.  They were positive on that.”

PM Dahal further said that he had requested Xi to visit Nepal, adding that discussions were also held on the implementation of the earlier pacts between the two countries.

He refuted media reports that he made the Chinese President to wait for five minutes for the talks.

On a separate note, PM Dahal said that he held discussions with the available SAARC members to hold SAARC Summit at the soonest. 

 
• pushpa kamal dahal
 
• trilateral partnership