Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli will pay an official visit to China towards March-end, the media reported yetserday.
A meeting of the Council of Ministers took a formal decision on Monday evening regarding the trip, Information Minister Sherdhan Rai said.
This is going to be Oli’s second foreign trip after he became the prime minister on October 11, Xinhua news agency reported.
He visited India from February 19 to 24.
Officials at the Nepal’s ministry of foreign affairs said preparations for Oli’s visit to China were on but dates were yet to be finalised.
“The prime minister will attend the 2016 Annual Conference of the Boao Forum of Asia to be held in China from March 22 to 25,” said Oli’s foreign relations expert Gopal Khanal.
“But it is confirmed that the prime minister will make an official trip to China,” he added.
During Oli’s visit, Nepal and China are expected to ink a long-term deal on the supply of petroleum products.
“An official agreement on import of petroleum products from China, as discussed during Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa’s visit in December, is likely during Oli’s visit,” Khanal said.
Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC), the state-run organisation that deals with procuring and distribution of petroleum products, had signed a framework agreement with Petro China last October for importing one-third of Nepal’s fuel requirements.
The country currently imports all its petroleum products from India under an agreement between NOC and Indian Oil Corporation.
During Thapa’s visit to China, both sides signed an eight-point deal for the long-term supply of petroleum products, improving connectivity and increasing bilateral trade.
Both NOC and Petro China were directed to work out details on pricing, taxation, transportation and other issues before a formal deal is sealed. But the deal got stuck because Nepal sought the waiver of certain taxes.
A four-member team of senior bureaucrats and NOC officials left for China yesterday and it is expected to resolve all these issues before Oli’s visit.