KATMANDU, Nepal, May 26 (UPI) -- Senior diplomats from India and China were due in Katmandu Thursday for talks, reportedly on opening a possible trade route through Nepal.
Indian Foreign Ministry official Ranjit Rae and Zhou Gang, a senior official of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, were due to arrive simultaneously in Katmandu, the BBC reported.
The Indo-Asia News Service reported Thursday that Nepal was preparing a tripartite agreement with India and China to allow the kingdom to be used as a trade route between New Delhi and Beijing.
A weekly magazine in Katmandu reported that the Chinese government had agreed to provide Nepal with an MA-60 aircraft, the IANS also said.
India had condemned King Gyanendra's seizure of direct control of the country in February and cut off arms supplies to Nepal, but recently has reconsidered that decision.
China, by contrast, had described the king's overthrow of the government as an "internal matter."
Rae is the first senior Indian official to visit Nepal since the royal takeover. Analysts say that New Delhi is increasingly concerned about China's growing influence in the kingdom.
