A Chinese technical team is in Kathmandu to initiate the feasibility study of the Keyrung-Kathmandu railway line. China has agreed to conduct the study under grant assistance. The team is holding consultations with the Department of Railways, Kathmandu. During the then Foreign Minister Narayan Khakda’s China visit in August this year, China had agreed to conduct the study.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Nepal said this arrival is an important step toward the implementation of both countries’ leaders’ consensus, and a solid step to turn Nepal from a land-locked to a land-linked country. The two countries had reached an understanding on this issue during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Nepal visit in 2019. Pre-feasibility study of the railway, which identified several bottlenecks, has already been completed. The two sides are yet to agree on the investment modality of the railway.
The Chinese delegation landed in Nepal a day after CPN (Maoist Center) Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal assumed office as prime minister. China has also been urging Nepal to give more impetus to its signature Belt and Road Initiative. It may be noted that Kathmandu’s relations with the northern neighbor had thawed during the premiership of Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba.
One of the vital trade points with China, the Tatopani customs point, remains literally shut after the 2015 Gorkha earthquake, hampering trade between the two countries. In the past five years since the signing of the BRI framework, negotiations between the two sides have focused on preparing legal documents. The only other achievement in this period was the inclusion of Nepal-China Trans-Himalayan Multi-Dimensional Connectivity Network, including a cross-border railway, in the joint communique of the second BRI conference in 2019.
BRI is basically about taking loans from Chinese banks to build infrastructure. But Nepali leaders who are in conversation with Chinese leaders have been emphasizing grants for the BRI projects. For instance, in 2018, the KP Sharma Oli-led government negotiated with the Chinese on the Keyrung-Kathmandu railway. The Oli government reportedly told the Chinese side to provide a grant for the railway project.
