(TibetanReview.net, Mar 21, 2009) — Nepal has asked China to extend its railway from Tibet’s capital Lhasa to Lumbini, the Buddha’s birthplace, via its capital Kathmandu as the two countries decided to enhance their bilateral ties, reported the country’s official daily The Rising Nepal Mar 18. It said Nepal’s Prime Minister Prachanda and visiting Chinese Assistant Minister for Commerce Chen Jian discussed a number of issues, including water resources management, constructing outer Ring Road in Kathmandu, and the railway.
Regarding the railway, the report said, “Chinese assistant minister responded positively to the request, saying his government was committed to extending necessary support to Nepal.”
Chen was on a four-day visit to Nepal beginning Mar 15 in connection with an upcoming meeting of Nepal-China Inter-Governmental Economic and Trade Committee. It came close on the heels of the visit of China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zegyue’s, during which he handed over a draft of Nepal China Friendship Treaty to Nepalese officials.