KATHMANDU, JUN 04 – Prime Minister Sushil Koirala is leading a 34-member official delegation to Kunming, the provincial Capital of Yunan, on Thursday to participate in the second China-South Asia Exposition that begins on June 6.

PM Koirala is a keynote speaker at the expo where Nepal is the country of honour. He is scheduled to inaugurate the Nepali Pavilion there on Friday. Koirala will leave for Kunming on Thursday in a special flight arranged by Chinese side.

Koirala will meet Vice Premier Wang Yang among other Chinese leaders. Stronger trade ties with China and attracting more Chinese investment in Nepal will be among the agendas during his talks with the Chinese leaders. He is also scheduled to meet leaders from South Asian nations, including President of Maldives Abdulla Yameen and Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina on the sidelines of the event.

According to officials, Koirala will be accompanied by five Nepali Congress lawmakers, three from the UML, four from Madhes-based parties, and one each from other ruling parties and opposition parties including the UCPN (Maoist).

“The exact number of the delegation could not be finalised until Tuesday evening as other aspirants were putting pressure on the PM’s private secretariat to include them on the list. The size of the delegation is likely to increase until a final decision from the Cabinet,” said the source. A Cabinet meeting on Wednesday will finalise the composition of the delegation. As the Chinese side has made it clear that it will only host 30 of the PM delegation, the government has to bear costs for other travellers.

Koirala is said to have decided to expand the size of his delegation to accommodate leaders from all political parties in the wake of criticism over his failure to include a leader from the CPN-UML during the recent India visit for Narendra Modi’s inauguration as Indian prime minister.

Besides the PM’s official delegation, another five-member delegation under Minister for Commerce  Sunil Bahadur Thapa, 10-member cultural team, two from the Ministry of Science and Technology, a separate team of 10 journalists sponsored by Chinese Embassy, 15 from the Federation of Nepal Chambers of Commerce are also travelling to Kunming.

The Chinese side has arranged a special flight for the prime minister and his delegation to travel to and from Kunming. The PM will return on Friday. kantipur