Kathmandu, March 27 – An agreement between Nepal and China to start direct bus services between Kathmandu and Lhasa, capital of Tibet, will be implemented from May 1, as per schedule.
A 14-member Chinese delegation led by Chang Jiang Jhang, director of Tibet’s transport management department, arrived in Nepal Friday after completing an inspection of the nearly 900km highway connecting Kathmandu and Lhasa.
Though Saturday was a holiday in Nepal’s government offices, the visiting delegation started a two-day meeting with officials of Nepal’s transport management department, resulting in an agreement to start direct bus services from May 1.
A formal agreement between the two sides is expected to be signed Sunday.
The service will start with two buses each from Nepal and Tibet with the simplification of visa procedures for travellers.
Sajha Yatayat, Nepal’s state-run bus service, will operate runs from Nepal while a private transport operator will be given the contract in Tibet, Nepal’s state media reported.
The journey is likely to take between two to three days with a one-way trip costing between $50-70.
The bus service will run nine months, an improvement on air services that are available only six months a year.
Travellers from Nepal would be able to get a visa from Sajha Yatayat, media reports said, saving trips to the Chinese embassy in Kathmandu.
Talks about direct bus services had started in the 90s but got a fillip in November last year when May was regarded as a possible starting date.
China has bettered its ties with Nepal by saying the Feb 1 royal coup was an internal matter of Nepal and agreeing to send its foreign minister Li Zhaoxing on a visit to Kathmandu end of this month. Next month, China is also scheduled to hold an education fair and a trade fair, sectors in which India still dominates in Nepal.
With Nepal’s relations with China getting closer, the bus service pact is posed to hit the roads right on schedule, in sharp contrast to an agreement between Nepal and India to start bus services between major cities in both countries.
In February 2004, India’s then foreign secretary Shashank’s visit to Nepal resulted in both countries signing an agreement that provided for 53 buses from each side plying daily through five border points, connecting Indian cities like New Delhi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Varanasi and Darjeeling with key Nepalese cities like Kathmandu and Biratnagar.
However, the pact was grounded after Sher Bahadur Deuba formed a multi-party government in mid-2004 due to objections by the coalition’s dominant leftist partner, the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist, who felt it would give undue advantage to Indian transport operators.
Though the agreement would have benefited thousands of Nepalese and Indians, it is unlikely to be put on the road now, with relations between Nepal and India hitting an all-time row.
Since King Gyanendra dismissed the Deuba government and assumed absolute powers, India has suspended military assistance to Nepal’s army, saying the decision will be reviewed only if the king restores multi-party democracy.
