Ready to play mediator between India, China, says Nepal PM KP Oli

NEW DELHI: Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in an exclusive interview with Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary talked about how it can play the role of a mediator in the India-China conflict that has escalated since the Galwan valley incident in June last year. 20 Indian jawans were martyred in the clash. The Chinese side also suffered casualties, however, it hasn't acknowledged it ever.

Highlighting that both India and China are Nepal's neighbours, PM Oli said that Nepal has nothing to do with the Galwan episode.

"We have nothing to do with Galwan episode between India and China. Both the nations are my neighbour," Oli said when asked why Nepal took a neutral stand rather than showed its softness towards China.

On the question of mediating or negotiating between Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and PM Narendra Modi and playing a role as a neutral umpire, the Nepal PM said that he is ready to sit with the two prime ministers to resolve the issue.

"We will talk to both sides, you should sit for the talks. Because almost all of us are peers. Maybe someone will be one and a half years elder or younger. All of us have been in politics for a long time. Therefore, we are peers, not 'like' peers.

The Prime Minister added that if these two giant neighbours start fighting, then it will have a negative impact on Nepal. 

"We want now is that it's the era of Asia and we should develop ourselves. So we want our neighbours to have a good relationship. Let there be an atmosphere of trust," he said.

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