Kathmandu, April 29 – An agreement has been reached between Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) of the People’s Republic of China to continue the Kathmandu-Lhasa-Kathmandu direct bus service that had been in operation so far on a trial basis.
Both the sides have agreed to make the service provided by national flag carrier buses more effective, says the Ministry of Labour and Transport Management.
The agreement was reached following a discussion held from April 19-21 in Lhasa between a team led by Joint Secretary at the Ministry Dinesh Hari Adhikari and Party Secretary-General Paba Cicheng of the Communications Department of the TAR.
Sajha Yatayat on behalf of Nepal and Himalayan Transport on behalf of TAR of China have been running national flag carriers in the Kathmandu-Lhasa-Kathmandu route.
Following the discussion, the two sides also agreed to sort out the obstacles to smooth running of the bus service including among others visa processing, visa for tourists from the third world countries, visa fees for Nepali tourists, hotel facilities in Lhasa, garage and ticket counters for the Chinese side in Nepal.
A high level team of the Chinese Government will also be visiting Nepal this year in order to study and discuss ways to making the bus service more effective, says the statement released by the Ministry here today.
