Lhasa-Kathmandu direct bus service to resume

By Lobsang Tenchoe

DHARAMSALA, July 1: China is said to resume suspended direct bus link from Lhasa to Kathmandu after a decade.

After blocking India’s entry into the NSG, Beijing has now decided to resume Lhasa-Kathmandu direct bus service after decade-long gap following the 9th meeting of the Joint Tourism Coordination Committee (JTCC) between Nepal and Tibetan Autonomous region(TAR), reports Pakistan’s Nation.com.pk, June 30.

13550927_1199200683457673_774018755_nDuring the said meeting, the two sides have put pen to paper on a 16-point memorandum of understanding (MoU) which includes resuming direct bus service between the two cities.

Initially started in May 2005, the bus link between the two cities, has failed to move forward since 2006 after a political fallout over visa related issues.

“Two sides agreed to resolve issues such as carrier company, stopping and starting stations, safety, ticket-sale among others so as to promote China-Nepal direct bus service,” Laxman Sharma, director at Department of Tourism of Nepal told Chinese news agency.

The two sides have also agreed on exploring possibilities of increasing frequency of flights between the two cities with reasonable fair and to enhance cooperation among their travel-trade associations