Senior officials of Nepal’s two giant neighbours—India and China– discussed situation in the Himalayan kingdom in Beijing early this week reports said Thursday.

Indian Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran

Indian Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran (File Photo)
Indian Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran, told a press conference in Beijing that the talks between him and the Chinese foreign minister Li Zhaoxing on Monday also touched upon the issue of Nepal.

According to the official website of the Ministry of External Affairs of India, Saran told his Chinese counterpart that the political changes in Nepal and its degrading economic situation had concerned India. “I explained about the latest political situation in Nepal. I said that political changes and economic degradation there [Nepal] are a matter of concern for India because we share an open border between us,” official website of the PIB said.

Saran said that China reiterated its stand that there should be no interference in the internal affairs of any nation. The same Chinese policy applies to Nepal, the Chinese side was quoted as saying.

Saran’s China visit focuses on ties based on strategy and cooperation.

Saran had told the Chinese side that supplying arms to Nepal at this juncture would only help to escalate the ongoing conflict. Chinese response to Indian concerns could not be known.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (File Photo)
Addressing the Shanghai Institute of International Studies on Wednesday, Saran said, “There are many who look at India-China relations with the old mindset of “balance of power” or “conflict of interests” and see Asia as a theatre of competition between these two countries. Such theories are outdated in today’s fast-emerging dynamics of Asia’s quest for peace and prosperity and its interconnectedness. So are perceptions in some quarters that India and China seek to contain each other. To the protagonists of such theories, I would only like to say that India and China, as two continental-size economies and political entities, are too big to contain each other or be contained by any other country.”