Ready to align development strategies with Nepal: China

Benaulim, Oct 16 Chinese President Xi Jinping said that his country is ready to align development strategies with Nepal and hopes to build the two neighbours into a community of shared destiny.

Xi met with Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Saturday along the sidelines of the eighth summit of the emerging-market bloc of BRICS.

"Since the two countries established diplomatic ties more than half a century ago, China-Nepal relations have withstood the vicissitudes of international situations and maintained stable development," Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying.

He called on the two countries to strengthen political communication, enhance mutual support on each other's core interests and to promote cooperation in their pursuit of development.

China is ready to support Nepal in its post-earthquake reconstruction and take part in construction of special economic zones and industrial parks in Nepal, Xi added.

For his part, Prime Minister Dahal said that Nepal views China as a reliable development partner and is ready to develop a more comprehensive partnership with China, he added.

Dahal also conveyed Nepal's willingness to participate in connectivity construction within the frameworks of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Nepal is a member of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), a regional mechanism which is aimed at connecting South Asian and Southeast Asian countries.

On the margins of their summit in Goa, Xi and other BRICS leaders will hold dialogues with their BIMSTEC counterparts.

IANS