Nepal has sought China’s assistance in building a monorail network in Kathmandu and a cross-border rail line from a Tibetan town to Lumbini, a popular pilgrimage site and the birthplace of Buddha, a s
Nepal has sought China’s assistance in building a monorail network in Kathmandu and a cross-border rail line from a Tibetan town to Lumbini, a popular pilgrimage site and the birthplace of Buddha, a senior Nepalese official has said.
“The two sides have also agreed on building railways in Nepal,” Gopal Khanal, foreign affairs adviser to Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, told Japanese agency Kyodo News.
Mr Oli, who arrived here on a week-long visit has signed 10 agreements during his meeting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. This included a landmark transit treaty to end the near-total dependence on India for essential supplies.
Mr Khanal said Nepal is seeking China’s assistance in constructing a monorail in Kathmandu and a rail link from China’s Gyirong to Lumbini.
By 2020, China plans to extend the high-elevation Qinghai-Tibet Railway to Gyirong, which borders Nepal.
On Monday, Mr Oli proposed two kind of railway projects to China when he met Premier Li, said Hou Yanqi, deputy director-general in foreign ministry’s Asia department. “The first is project of Nepal connecting cities in Nepal, and the second is a cross-border railway,” she said.
Mr Hou said Mr Oli “raised the issue of building a cross-border railway between China and Nepal” for which he has got a “positive response from the Chinese side and the two sides have agreed to conduct feasibility study at an early date.”
China has expanded its railways to Shigatse — the seat of Panchan Lama in 2014 in Tibet. It is about 450 kilometres from Kyirong, 26 kilometres from Rasuwagadi in Nepal.
China plans to extend its rail link to Kyirong by 2020.
Referring to the transit treaty which the Nepalese government hopes will end its dependence on India, Mr Khanal said, “The Transport Transit Agreement is a milestone for Nepal.”
“Although many details will have to be worked out, the treaty will tremendously boost the confidence of Nepalese people,” Mr Khanal added.
So far, Nepal has conducted trade with three countries through the Indian port of Kolkata.
The Japanese agency report said that during Mr Oli’s February visit, India offered access to a second port, Visakhapatnam, in a move understood in Kathmandu as the southern neighbour’s attempt to woo Nepal away.
