Tibet- Kathmandu rail link to be built by Nepal & China
◗ This is second significant initiative by PM Oli, after he signed a transit trade treaty with China during his brief previous tenure in 2016 to reduce dependence on India for transportation of goods to Nepal
Beijing: China and Nepal have agreed to build a strategic railway link connecting Tibet with Kathmandu, which Nepalese PM K. P. Sharma Oli sees as an alternative trade route for supply of commodities to the landlocked Himalayan nation. Mr Oli, who is here on a five- day visit, held talks with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, following which a MoU was signed to build the railway link through the arduous Himalayan terrain.
Beijing/ Kathmandu, June 22: China and Nepal have agreed to build a strategic railway link connecting Tibet with Kathmandu, which Nepalese Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli sees as an alternative trade route for supply of commodities to the landlocked Himalayan nation.
Mr Oli, who is here on a five- day visit, held talks with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, following which a Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU) was signed to build the railway link through the arduous Himalayan terrain on Friday, along with 14 cooperative documents.
This is the second significant initiative by Oli, after
he signed a transit trade treaty with China during his brief previous tenure in 2016 to reduce dependence on India for transportation of goods to Nepal.
Mr Oli has said that the road and rail links through Tibet could be alternative trade routes for supply of commodities to Nepal.
The new railway line will connect the Gyirong trading port in the city of Xigaze in Tibet with the Nepali capital Kathmandu, Vice- Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou was quoted as saying by the China Daily, after the two meetings.
The Kathmandu Post quoted Nepal’s foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali as saying that the detailed project planning report ( DPR) of the KerungKathmandu rail line would be completed in one- and- ahalf years or so.
He also said the construction would be completed in another five years.