Nepal seeks better BRI terms as ruling party MPs visit China

New Delhi: Nepal is not keen to accept a subservient relationship with China and will seek clear benefits for itself from the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) when MPs of the ruling party visit China beginning Saturday.

Nepalese PM Balen Shah met the MPs before their departure and urged them to seek benefits for Nepal from Chinese projects, according to Kathmandu-based sources.

Shah asked the MPs not to approach China with an inferiority complex merely because Nepal is smaller in size.

This reflects the government's attempt to engage China from a position of confidence, sources said.

The Nepal PM asked the delegation to examine how Nepal could benefit from the BRI, as the country remains cautious about BRI financing, implementation and debt.

"There has been considerable debate and controversy surrounding the BRI, so you need to approach the subject carefully. Make it clear how Nepal can use the initiative in its national interest," Nepal's leading English daily, Kathmandu Post, reported, quoting Shah from the meeting with the MPs.