Kathmandu, June 30: A conference was held in Beijing to mark the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence on June 28. Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech on the significance of the Five Principles, China’s role in global peace and prosperity, safeguarding small and underdeveloped countries’ interests, sovereignty and independence.  To sum up, President Xi’s address focused on China’s policy towards peaceful coexistence of the global society. Nepal’s former President Bidya Devi Bhandari was scheduled to attend the conference in Beijing on June 28. After our Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal visited New Delhi to attend the oath ceremony of third-time elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi and sideline talks between Modi and Dahal, things have been changed. Modi is learnt to have instructed our PM Dahal not to visit China by high-level dignitaries and not implement the projects under BRI (Belt and Road Initiative). After the return of PM Dahal from Delhi, Bhandari, under the instruction of UML chair K.P. Sharma Oli, cancelled her China visit.    Last week, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong attended the 16th meeting of the Nepal-China Diplomatic Consultative Mechanism. The Vice Minister, during his stay in Kathmandu, held a meeting with Prime Minister Pushpakamal Dahal. Dahal’s Secretariat said that during the meeting the Vice Minister expressed concern on the delayed implementation of the projects under the Belt and Road Initiatives. On Tuesday, when the 16th meeting of the Nepal-China Diplomatic Consultative Mechanism was taking place, PM Dahal was addressing the House meeting on questions raised by Members of Parliament. PM Dahal said to the Parliamentarians that Nepal cannot afford BRI projects under debt. Therefore, the government has initiated talks for the implementation of the BRI projects under grants or soft loans. The PM said that the Pokhara International Airport was constructed with around five per cent of interest. Earlier, Ambassador Chen Song had informed that the Airport was constructed under a 50% grant and 50% through a soft loan of 1.5%. To conclude, the present government, under Indian pressure, is not keen to endorse BRI soon. From the PM’s statement in the House meeting also, it makes confirms that the government is avoiding implementation of the BRI soon. To avoid BRI, the government is saying that it wants BRI under grant or soft loan only. People's News Monitoring Service.