Nepal not playing ‘China card’ against India: Oli

Nepal is not playing the “China card” against India, Prime Minister K P Oli said on Thursday, on the eve of his fence-mending India visit during which many agreements are expected to be signed. Addressing a press conference ahead of his maiden six-day India visit, Oli refuted allegations that he played the “China card” against India in the wake of the border blockade due to protests by Madhesis that caused severe shortage of essential goods, including petrol and cooking gas, in the country. “It is not true that Nepal has played any card against India,” he told reporters at his office. “I won’t play a card against any country,” Prime Minister Oli said, adding in a lighter vein that, “I don’t know how to play a card.”  “There is no question of playing a card for one against the other. We want to develop friendly relations with both our great neighbours on the basis of mutual respect and benefit,” 63-year-old Oli said.