Nepal's Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli (center R) reviews a military honour guard with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 21, 2018. AFP / Greg Baker
SHANGHAI: China will build a railway connecting the western region of Tibet with Nepal, the China Daily reported on Friday, one of several bilateral deals signed during Nepali Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli's visit to Beijing.
The link will connect the Tibetan city of Xigaze with Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, the paper said.
The two sides signed more than 10 agreements involving technology, transportation, infrastructure and political cooperation, according to a notice posted on China's official government website (http://www.gov.cn) on Thursday.
China would also like to work with Nepal to build a "cross-Himalayan connectivity network" through aviation, trading ports, highways and telecommunications, China Daily quoted Chinese Premier Li Keqiang as saying.
In an interview with state-run Chinese tabloid Global Times on Friday, Oli said "cross-border connectivity" was Nepal's top priority, and he called for the two countries to work together to develop Nepal's hydropower resources.
Nepal has already scrapped a $2.5 billion deal with China's state-owned Gezhouba Group to build a hydropower facility in the west of the country.
A $1.6 billion deal with China's Three Gorges Project Corporation to build the West Seti hydropower plant in Nepal has also been put in doubt, with officials saying the Chinese company has been haggling for better terms.
Oli told the Global Times that nothing had been decided yet and the West Seti project was still under consideration by Nepal's investment board.
IANS adds from Beijing: China and Nepal yesterday signed 14 agreements, including one on railway construction in the Himalayan nation, following a meeting between visiting Nepali Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli and his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang.
Both sides struck the deal on conducting feasibility study of a railway line connecting the border town of Kerung to Nepali capital Kathmandu. The MoU was signed by Nepal’s Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Raghubir Mahaseth and his Chinese counterpart Li Xiaopeng.
China will bear the cost of the 121.480 km project.
Kathmandu and Beijing had in principal agreed to expand the Chinese railway beyond Nepal border in 2016 during the visit of Oli but no agreement was reached that time.
The Chinese railway authorities will conduct the pre-feasibility of the project within August and will start preparing the detailed project report by the next two years.
The construction will be completed within five years. The Chinese side said its rail will likely reach near Nepal border in 2022. After that, the construction of cross border railway will commence.
Mahaseth and Li also signed a protocol on the utilisation of highways in Tibet by Nepal for cargo transport. With this agreement, Nepal can use the Tibetan highways to ferry goods and logistics to its northern part close to Tibet, but difficult to access from other parts of Nepal.
Other MoU inked was investment and cooperation on production capacity between the National Development and Reforms Commission of China and National Planning Commission of Nepal.
Similarly, an agreement between the two governments was signed on reconstruction of the Friendship Bridge in Tatopani of Sindhupalchowk and Rasuwagadhi of Rasuwa districts of Nepal that were damaged due to the 2015 earthquake. These two bridges link Nepal and China in two busiest trading routes.
Another MoU was signed on the setting up of mechanism for facilitation on the implementation of China-Nepal Cooperation Programmes and Projects in Nepal.
Several others pacts were signed on energy cooperation, Nepal’s Nuwakot Palace Restoration Project at Durbar Square, public schools recovery project in Rasuwa, Dolakha and Sindhupalchowk.
