Trilateral cooperation among China, India and Nepal urged (3)

A senior leader of Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist who succeeded Prachanda as Nepal's prime minister from May 25, 2009 to Feb. 6, 2011, Nepal cited as example the Karnali hydro power project.

He said that funds for its development can come from one side and other side can consume the produced electricity. "So there is a chance for the project to become a reality if we can work together."

India and China, Asia's two fastest growing economies, have a deepening bonds of trade and economic cooperation. In 2000, bilateral trade between the two counties was worth only 2.9 billion U.S. dollars; but in 2011, bilateral trade surged to 73 billion U.S. dollars.

At present, China is India's number one trading partner. The two neighbors have set a trade target of 100 billion U.S. dollars for 2015.

Nepal is a small landlocked country that hopes to grow alongside its prosperous neighbors. But while China is expected to grow by 8 percent this year and India by at least 6 percent, Nepal 's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by only 3.5 percent.