pkk|d dx/f / lrlgofF k|d nLaLr e]6jftf{ rLg e|d0fdf /xg'ePsf pkk|wfg Pjd cy{dGqL s[i0faxfb'/ dx/fn] lrlgofF k|wfgdGqL nL v5ofªl;t a]Olhªdf a'waf/ e]6jftf{ ub}{ . tl:a/ M ;f}hGo – pkk|wfg Pjd cy{dGqLsf] ;lrjfno, /f;; Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing on Wednesday. Photo: RSS
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing on Wednesday.

Mahara is in Beijing as a special envoy of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, to invite Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Nepal later this year.

During the meeting, Mahara informed the Chinese Premier that 'Nepal is eager and prepared to welcome president Xi'. Li said Xi is positive about visiting Nepal, but has yet to fix a date.

Former Prime Minister KP Oli had invited the Chinese President to Nepal, during a visit to Beijing early this year to sign a trade and transit treaty with China. Chinese officials had hinted that Xi would be in Kathmandu towards the end of this year. However, the unravelling of the communist alliance in Kathmandu -- widely believed to have been designed in New Delhi -- had cast a shadow over Xi's visit. Dahal, the new Prime Minister, sent Mahara to Beijing to clarify the uncertainty.

Meanwhile, Dahal is sending another Deputy Prime Minister, Bimalendra Nidhi, to New Delhi to lay the groundwork for his India visit. Nidhi is flying to New Delhi on Thursday, and will use the occasion to also invite Indian President Pranab Mukherjee to Kathmandu.

Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae on Wednesday said that Dahal’s India visit and Mukherjee’s Nepal visit will be finalised during Nidhi’s visit this week.