By Sudeshna Sarkar
Kathmandu, August 8 – The decision by India and China to step up border trade is likely to have spin-off benefits for Nepal, home to several historic routes taken by yak caravans while travelling between India and Tibet in past decades.
With Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit to China in June, the two countries agreed to open a trade route to China from Sikkim in India.
A the same time, Nepal is moving to restore travel links to the once forbidden city of Lhasa in Tibet, having already signed a memorandum of understanding with Tibet to boost tourism.
A delegation headed by vice-chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region Lobsang Gyalzen signed the agreement with the Nepalese ministry of culture and tourism to develop two transit points, simplify visa procedures for Nepalese tourists to Tibet and allow helicopters from Nepal to land in Tibet for rescue operations.
At present, the Arniko Highway connects Nepal with Tibet, running from the hot spring known as Tato Pani on the Nepalese border to Khasa near the Chinese border.
Kathmandu and Beijing have an agreement for a second road, the Rasuwa Highway, to be built from Dhunche on the Nepal side to Rasuagadi near Lhasa that would make travelling to the famed pilgrimage sites of Mansarovar and Mt Kailash more convenient.
According to the agreement, the Chinese government is to build the road that is still at the design stage.
Trekking Agents’ Association of Nepal president Suman Pandey said the meeting between the officials of Nepal and Tibet had discussed the implementation of the road project.
Currently, China Airlines operates two flights from Kathmandu to Lhasa a week.
The two sides are looking at increasing the frequency of flights as well as allowing Nepalese airlines to operate on this route.
Next week, a delegation from Nepal Tourism Board is scheduled to fly to Lhasa to discuss air service agreements for possible flights by Royal Nepalese Airlines Corporation, the national carrier.
“Every year, 700,000 tourists visit Tibet from China,” Pandey said.
“Tibet is booming in terms of Chinese mainland tourists. With China being a major tourism market for Nepal as well, the joint venture will help Nepal attract Chinese tourists from Tibet,” Pandey told IANS.
The Gormo-Lhasa Railway, given high priority by China’s 10th Five Year Plan and expected to be completed by 2005, one year before schedule, will connect mainland China with Tibet by rail and bring Chinese tourists even closer to Nepal.
Once that route is completed, it is to be extended to the border town of Shigatse close to the Nepal border.
“Then Tibet will became the main gateway to Nepal for Chinese tourists,” said Pandey.
Tibetan groups have, however, been objecting to the rail project, saying it would damage the Tibetan plateau’s fragile ecosystem and usher in a massive influx of ethnic Han Chinese settlers, a factor that could contribute to further marginalisation of Tibetans.
But Nepal feels it would be foolish not to take advantage of the railway once it is implemented.
Some Nepalese entrepreneurs say Kathmandu has woken up to the importance of new routes to China in the wake of Vajpayee’s visit to China.
Upendra Gautam of the China Study Centre, a private think tank in Kathmandu, feels the Nepalese government should have tried to improve business ties with Beijing by increasing road links much earlier.
“Kathmandu had a monopoly in trade with China,” he said. “Monopoly is never good for business. Now they have woken up to the possibility of the Sikkim route being a threat to Nepal’s trade.”
Pandey, however, said the new cooperation with Tibet has nothing to do with Vajpayee’s China visit.
“Nepal has had trade relations with China for thousands of years,” he said. “Even before Vajpayee’s trip, our tourism ministry had been focusing on China as a major tourism market.
“With the agreement, Tibet and Nepal have also set up a joint committee which will meet at least once a year to promote bilateral tourism. Earlier, we had no such forum to address our problems. This is a very good step that widens the scope for future cooperation.”
