By Lucy Hornby and Gopal Sharma
BEIJING/KATHMANDU – Nepal’s prime minister will visit the Tibetan capital of Lhasa during his upcoming trip to China, as China tries to forge closer ties with its southern neighbour in order to control a restive minority at home.
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal’s six-day trip, beginning Saturday, highlights his administration’s strategic balancing act between giant rivals China and India, and his efforts to show domestic opponents he too commands China’s support.
Beijing in turn seeks more support from the Nepali government in controlling 20,000 Tibetan exiles based in the Himalayan nation. Exile groups in Nepal stepped up protests against Chinese policies in their homeland after widespread Tibetan demonstrations against Chinese rule in March, 2008.
“China has only one obsession in Nepal and that is not to let Nepal be used for free Tibet activities,” Kunda Dixit, editor of the Nepali Times weekly, told Reuters.
Tibetan exile groups say the border with Nepal, traditionally a crossing point for Tibetan refugees as well as those simply travelling between Tibet and communities in India, has been more tightly controlled since last year.
In Nepal, former Maoist rebels are demanding the resignation of the government seven months after the former rebels walked out in a row with the president. These groups claim historic inspiration from Mao Zedong, the communist revolutionary founder of the People’s Republic of China.
“Politically the visit comes as the Maoists are trying to show that they are closer to the Chinese,” Dixit said.
“So the prime minister’s visit is a message to the Maoists that Madhav Kumar Nepal’s government has China’s support.”
China, an aid donor and trade partner with impoverished Nepal, has built hospitals, roads and hydroelectric plants in the Himalayan nation, as well as training army officers.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu kept a careful distance from Nepal’s domestic strife, telling reporters on Tuesday that the prime minister’s talks with Premier Wen Jiabao will encourage “stable and friendly” ties between the neighbours.
“We have also consistently supported the various parties in Nepal in seeking to resolve their problems through friendly consultations, and protecting the peace and stability of Nepal,” she said.
China’s growing economic, political and military ties with Nepal concern India, even though India’s economic involvement in the landlocked country is still greater.
Indian media regularly carry warnings that warming Sino-Nepalese relations could weaken India’s position in the Himalayan region.
“Nepal has always tried to balance its relations with India and with China,” said S. Chandrasekharan, an analyst at the South Asia Analysis Group in New Delhi.
“Strategically, Nepal is of importance to India but economically, Nepal is too dependent on India to upset its balance with India with a greater weight for China.”
(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley in Beijing and Rina Chandran in Mumbai; Editing by Jerry Norton)
