After being appointed as the Prime Minister, will the first foreign visit be to India or China? This topic is a perennial curiosity that arises in Nepali political circles. The custom of attributing a very large diplomatic meaning to it still persists. Which neighboring country extended the first invitation for an official visit? Which of the neighboring countries, India or China, did the Prime Minister choose for his first visit? This is interpreted in various ways.

Wherever the Prime Minister goes, it is customary to understand that the government is leaning towards the country in which it first visits. In the 1950s, even among the general public, there was an understanding that the Nepali Congress was close to India and the communist parties, including the UML, were close to China. The slogans raised by the leftist parties, especially from the streets to the parliament, also sent the message that the Congress was towards India and the communist parties towards China.

Nepal's communist parties had continuously raised issues related to India such as the abrogation or review of the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship, the Tanakpur Agreement, border disputes, trade and transit during various forums, streets and political activities. Even after the change of 2046, the Congress and India were always linked in the permanent slogans raised on the streets against the government.

The understanding that opposing India makes one a nationalist still persists. Therefore, some leftist and Panchayat-based politicians are giving messages that suggest that the Nepal-India border should be closed, passports should be enforced, and war should be waged with India.

After the change of 2046, before the UML government was formed in 2051, the relations of Nepal's communist parties, including the UML, with India (especially with the establishment party of India) did not look good. That is why in 2051 Mangsir, there was a curiosity in the diplomatic field whether the first visit of the UML-led minority government Prime Minister Manmohan Adhikari would be to India or China.

Finally, Prime Minister Adhikari made his first official visit to India on 27 Chaitra 2051. Although the UML's view on India was very strict and harsh while he was in the opposition, the first visit of Nepal's first communist Prime Minister Adhikari was to India.

After returning to Nepal after a five-day visit to India, Prime Minister Adhikari set out on a visit to China within 38 hours on 30 Baisakh 2052. That is why, no matter who is the Prime Minister, there is still an understanding that a government cannot survive if it visits China without visiting India.

This understanding was probably also there at that time. Therefore, Adhikari's visit to India sent a message that the anti-India voices echoing on the streets and the reality after coming to power are different. Adhikari's visit to China immediately after his visit to India was also discussed in diplomatic circles, trying to send a message that India is the first priority.

Adhikari was the first communist Prime Minister to pay an official visit to China. The exchange of high-level visits between Nepal and China took place in 1956 during the time of the then Prime Minister Tanka Prasad Acharya. Diplomatic relations were established between China and Nepal in 1955. Before leaving for China, Prime Minister Adhikari had talked to journalists at the Tribhuvan International Airport and informed them that there would be cooperation with China in the fields of economy and transportation.

Adhikari's team, which left for a five-day visit at the invitation of the Chinese Prime Minister, included Mrs. Sadhana Adhikari, Minister of State for Construction and Transport Ashok Kumar Rai, UML Deputy General Secretary and MP Bamdev Gautam, MPs Sharad Singh Bhandari, Khobhari Ray Yadav, Kashinath Adhikari, Bishnu Poudel and Golchhe Sarki. Adhikari led a team of 35 people including industrialists, businessmen and media persons.

During the visit, a program of meeting and talks with the Chinese President was scheduled. Adhikari had said that the purpose of the visit was also to increase the goodwill and friendship between Nepal and China. He had informed that Nepal and the autonomous region of Tibet in China were ready to hold talks. Adhikari was scheduled to visit Mongolia after China.