Ties with China friendly but incomparable' with India: Nepal envoy
No country would benefit without peaceful resolution of conflicts, Nepal's envoy to India, country's Ambassador Deep Kumar Upadhyay said.
Kathmandu/New Delhi: Nepal is confident that there will be no action from China to hurt its citizens, the country's Ambassador Deep Kumar Upadhyay said on Wednesday, while terming its ties with India as "incomparable".
Upadhyay said he was happy that the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops at Doklam had been resolved.
No country would benefit without peaceful resolution of conflicts, he said.
On being asked how challenging it was for the Himalayan nation to manage ties with its two neighbouring giants, the envoy said Nepal's position was "neutral", but "India occupies a special place in terms of people-to-people contact".
"There is a family type and heart-to-heart relationship between the two countries. We have incomparable relation
Between people," he said during an interaction at the Foreign Correspondents Club here.
India, which has traditionally enjoyed great economic and political ties with Nepal, has faced increasing competition from China in the recent years.
On Nepal joining China's 'One Belt One Road' initiative which seeks to link Asia with Europe, Upadhyay said his country considers China "friendly" and is confident that no action of China will harm its citizens.
India has not joined the initiative, expressing reservations over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a part of OBOR, as it is proposed to pass through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Referring to the upcoming provincial and federal polls in Nepal, Upadhyay said during electioneering, politicians might indulge in rhetoric, but no one could afford to be seen as biased towards people residing in the plains, bordering India's Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
The Madhesis, who reside in these parts, have been agitating for enhanced representation in the Nepalese parliament and against the country's new constitution, arguing that it falls short of their needs.
Queried on possible resumption of SAARC process which came to a halt last year over Indo-Pak tensions, the ambassador said nothing could be done until there was a politically conducive atmosphere.