Kathmandu, June 19
Nepal’s Minister for Foreign Affairs says it wants peaceful and tension-free relations between India and China, the country’s two immediate neighbours.
Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali’s statement comes two days after soldiers of the two countries clashed in the disputed Ladakh region. India says its 20 personnel were killed whereas details of the loss on the China side are not known immediately.
Though the minister has made a point over the issue in an interview with Onlinekhabar, the government is unlikely to issue its official statement about the issue. A few years ago, Nepal had abstained from issuing a similar statement on the Doklam faceoff between the two countries.
“We favour good ties with our neighbours. We wish they had less tension and there would be peace. Our stand is clear,” Gyawali says in the brief interview.
Nepal itself has not been able to communicate with India over bilateral issues after it issued the new political map and gave it a constitutional recognition. However, the officials are in touch with Beijing, it has been learned.
