China railway link to reach Nepal by 2022

KATHMANDU:China is conducting a feasibility study for building a railway link to Nepal at an estimated cost of more than $4 billion, with the line expected to reach the border by 2022, Chinese envoy Yu Hong has said.

The move comes against the backdrop of reports that Beijing is pressuring Kathmandu to take up more big ticket projects under the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. Nepal signed up for President Xi Jinping’s flagship connectivity project in May.

“We have already started the feasibility study for cross-border rail connectivity on the KerungKathmandu-Pokhara-Lumbini route that is expected to cost over $4 billion. The Chinese railway is expected to reach the Nepal border by 2022,” Yu said at a media interaction on Friday.

Yu described cross-border connectivity to Nepal as “difficult but possible” and said her country wants to expand economic, social and cultural connections. China, she said, is interested in Nepal’s reconstruction, energy development, tourism and trade under the framework of the BRI.

The feasibility study is being conducted because of the difficult terrain in the border area, including mountains and rocky stretches in the region where the Chinese rail and road links are expected to enter Nepal, Yu said.

The 2015 earthquake damaged the only road connection between the two sides. Nepal has repeatedly requested China to reopen the 115-km road that links Kathmandu to Tatopani on the border with Tibet.