Nepal's FM visits China after first calling on regional rival India

Nepalese Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal met China's top diplomat Wang Yi on Monday, his first trip to the neighbouring superpower since his party swept to election victory in March, and days after visiting Beijing's regional rival India.



The ousting of a Communist Party-led coalition government in Beijing's backyard presents a conundrum to Chinese diplomats, who have been working to shore up vital ties in the near abroad while reasserting claims in the East and South China Seas, analysts say.



"China has always placed Nepal at the forefront of its 'neighbourhood diplomacy'," said Wang, according to a foreign ministry readout released late on Monday, and "will support Nepal in safeguarding its national sovereignty and territorial integrity."



Analysts said Nepal's ties to South Asian power India gave the country of some 30 million people a degree of leverage over China, putting Beijing in the unfamiliar position of having to prove its worth.



While Kathmandu and Delhi have feuded over parts of their 1,751-km (1,088-mile) border for decades, Khanal told his hosts in Delhi earlier this month that the new government in Nepal was "free from the political baggage from the past," and ready to improve relations with India.