Two communist former premiers on China visit

KATHMANDU, MAY 07 - Two former prime ministers—Jhala Nath Khanal and Baburam Bhattarai—are visiting China this week, as part of what leaders say strengthening party-to-party relations with the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Leading a 19-member delegation, CPN-UML Chairman Khanal left for Kunming on Tuesday at the invitation of the CPC. While meeting senior CPC leaders, Khanal will invite them to attend the upcoming UML general convention.

Bhattarai is leaving for Beijing on Wednesday, embarking on his first ever China visit.

“This is purely a private visit,” his aide Bishowdeep Pandey said. Bhattarai is said to have been keen to visit China to observe its development model.

Khanal will be accompanied by Milan Tuladhar, Parshu Meghi Gurung, Ek Bahadur Rana, Garima Shah, Mina Gyawali, Dhan Kumari Sunar, Padma Aryal and Bhim Rai, among other leaders. Party Secretary Bishnu Poudel, who was also on the list, cancelled the trip owing to his “busy schedule”.

“My visit is focused on strengthening bilateral relations. It should be seen as a continuity of high-level political exchange between the two nations,” Khanal told reporters before the visit.

The party has not divulged further details such as who Khanal will meet and where else he will go in China.

Khanal said his visit will not affect constitution-writing as two ruling parties—Nepali Congress and UML—have reached an understanding to appoint 26 lawmakers and make appointments to constitutional bodies.

According to a statement issued by the party headquarters, Khanal will stay in Kunming for three days before moving to San Dang. He will meet CPC leaders in Beijing and will return to Kathmandu on May 16.

This is Khanal’s second visit to the northern neighbour after the People’s Movement of 2006. His last visit was in April 2009.

Bhattarai will return on May 13. There is no official announcement of the visit from his party, nor details of who he will be meeting in China.

Then-Premier Wen Jiabao visited Nepal in early 2011 when Bhattarai was the prime minister.

Though the Chinese side invited Bhattarai to visit China as PM, it did not materialise due to political upheavals in his tenure.