By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS
Kathmandu : The Chinese government, tightly guarding entries to Tibet, has said it will look into relaxing its draconian visa regime after signing an agreement with Nepal to resurrect the direct Kathmandu-Lhasa bus service Jan 1.
After six days of parleys, an eight-member delegation from TAR (Tibetan Autonomous Region) headed by deputy director-general of the region’s department of communications Ran Shiping signed a memorandum of understanding with Khagendra Mani Pokhrel, director-general at Nepal’s department of transport management.
Pokhrel said Nepal had asked China to ease the visa regulations and the delegation had assured they would convey it to the appropriate authorities in a positive manner.
The much-hyped Kathmandu-Lhasa direct deluxe bus service, for which China and Nepal had signed an agreement way back in 1994, had an inauspicious start on May 1, 2005 when Nepal was ruled by the army-backed regime of King Gyanendra.
The bus service ran into trouble soon after its start and remained suspended. Though resumed again for a short period in 2006, it has been closed since spring.
Officials in Nepal blame the closure on the Chinese reluctance to issue visas.
Beijing issued visas only to tourists travelling in groups, that too after stringent scrutiny. Travellers had to submit details of their itinerary and accommodation and the bus service was shut down by China on the eve of demonstrations in Tibet or anniversaries of historic days.
The revival of the flagging bus service coincides with the start of the Visit China campaign by Beijing to mark 2008 when it hosts the Olympic Games.
The number of buses, however, has not been increased. As in the past, each week there will be two buses, one arriving from Lhasa to be operated by China with another run by Nepal from Kathmandu.
Nepal’s state-owned Sajha Yatayat will run the weekly service from Kathmandu, like it did in the past. The pact will be a shot in the arm for the floundering state service, most of whose buses have not been running for over a year after an agitation by employees.
The one-way fare for the three-day trip will be $70.
Like the May inception, the January re-start may also not be a good date. During winter, due to bad weather, the road between Tibet and Nepal becomes inaccessible.