This aerial photo taken on March 30, 2022, shows the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre's main stadium (R) and Tennis Centre in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

"My expectation and my imagination is that the Asian Games will create a very positive and conducive atmosphere for our unity of Asian people," said Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

KATHMANDU, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) – "Hangzhou Asian Games embody Asian fraternity, unity, peace and prosperity," said Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

"While Asia is rising, we must uphold Asian unity, we must connect our people heart to heart for the shared and sustained prosperity," the prime minister told Xinhua in a recent interview before his official visit to China, during which he will attend the opening ceremony of Hangzhou Asian Games.

He lauded the slogan of "Heart to Heart, @Future," under which the 19th Asian Games will kick off on Sept. 23 in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.

The slogan reflects "not only the ability of the digital age to connect people from all over Asia," but also "the core of Asian values and Asian fraternity," he said.

"My expectation and my imagination is that the Asian Games will create a very positive and conducive atmosphere for our unity of Asian people," he added.

"We have to play a more positive role for stability and prosperity not only in Asia, but also all over the world," Dahal stressed.

The prime minister saw off a total of 253 Nepali players, who will contest in 29 games in Hangzhou, at his official residence in Kathmandu on Sept. 14.

He felt hopeful that they will "do very well" since Nepal and China share "close cultural affinity" and people-to-people contact for millennia.

This photo taken on June 15, 2023 shows the medals of the 19th Asian Games unveiled at a ceremony in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. (Xinhua/Jiang Han)

Nepal and China signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in May 2017, when Dahal was in his second term as the country's prime minister.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Nepal in 2019 provided "an important opportunity" to move forward cooperation in different areas, including those under the BRI, Dahal said.

"Given the huge need for investment in the infrastructure sector, Nepal hopes that there will be a window of opportunity for building infrastructure and promoting connectivity for economic benefit of our people," he added.

He voiced the hope that his upcoming visit will create a "more solid base" to strengthen bilateral friendship and cooperation, and build a "newer level" of trust between the two countries.