Nepal must learn from Lanka, be vigilant about China: India’s Gen. Bipin Rawat

bY S VENKAT NARAYAN,

Our Special Correspondent

 NEW DELHI, December 19: Nepal should learn from other countries like Sri Lanka and stay vigilant in its dealings with China, India’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat on Thursday.

The “unique, deep and extensive” ties between India and Nepal have been built over centuries, Gen Rawat said.

“In the present age, Nepal is also opening up to other nations, including China, based on its independent foreign policy”, he noted.

 Gen Rawat was addressing the annual dialogue between the Centre for Land Warfare Studies in New Delhi and the Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement.

“Here, I would like to stress that India’s goodwill comes with no strings attached. Nepal is free to exercise its choices in international affairs. But it should stay vigilant and learn from some cases of Sri Lanka and other nations, who signed agreements with other countries in the region,” he added.

 This was an obvious reference to the way China has entrapped several Asian and African countries in debt through infrastructure projects. India has concerns that China, with its infrastructure projects and other strategic inroads into Nepal, is working against New Delhi’s interests in the country.

He emphasised the need for India and Nepal to further strengthen their ties for the “peace and prosperity of the people of both the countries, who are already inseparable.