Nepal is contemplating doing away with visa formalities for a visit to China on reciprocal basis,according to high-level sources in the Foreign Ministry. The proposal may be formalised when Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal pays an official trip to Beijing sometime next month. Sources said the issue has figured in meetings between the two sides. A treaty of peace and friendship may be signed when the Prime Minister visits Beijing either in April or May, Om Sharma,Press Advisor to the PM said but gave no details about the visa-waiver plan. Dahal,soon after his meeting with Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jieyi today,said he wants his visit to Beijing to be a milestone in Nepal-China relations. Industrialist Rajeshkaji Shrestha,who heads the Nepal-China Chamber of Commerce,mooted the visa-waiver idea. The Chinese delegation headed by Jieyi is in Kathmandu to finalise details of the Nepal PMs visit. In addition to visa-free travel for people of the two countries,the government is set to sign the treaty of friendship as well as extradition with the Chinese on the lines of Nepals bilateral arrangements with India. Ostensibly,Lius visit over a week after Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menons trip also aims at securing Nepals commitment on checking activities of pro-Tibetan elements who will mark the 50th year of the Dalai Lamas escape to India next month. Nepal which firmly believes that Tibet is an integral part of China will not allow any activities against China from Nepali territory, said Dahal,according to his Foreign Affairs advisor Hira Bahadur Thapa. Dahal also appealed to China to come to the rescue of power-starved Nepal and support the construction of 400 MW Narsinghghad hydropower project in Nepals Jajarkot district. He also solicited Chinese help to set up special developmental and economic zones.
