China and Nepal study feasibility of cross-border power grid

KATHMANDU, March 26 (Reuters) – China and Nepal will conduct a feasibility examine to assemble a high-voltage energy transmission line throughout the Himalayas to facilitate the trade of electrical energy, officers mentioned on Saturday.

Chinese language International Minister Wang Yi and his Nepali counterpart Narayan Khadka witnessed the signing of an settlement following talks in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu.

Nepal faces energy shortages in the course of the dry season and the deliberate grid would alleviate the issue via imports from China.

In recent times Beijing has spent tens of millions of {dollars} constructing or upgrading highways, airports, energy crops and hospitals in Nepal, keen to achieve affect on the nation which acts as a pure buffer between it and India.

In 2019, China and Nepal agreed to conduct a feasibility examine for a railway community below Beijing’s Belt and Street Initiative that Nepal joined in 2017. However no progress has but been made to that finish, officers mentioned.

Wang’s go to comes a month after Nepal’s parliament accredited a controversial $500 million infrastructure grant from the US. Supporters of communist events, together with some allies of the ruling alliance, questioned America’s motive.

Wang arrived in Nepal on Friday after a visit to India. He handed over the brand new worldwide airport constructed with a $216 million Chinese language mortgage within the resort metropolis of Pokhara, 125 km (80 miles), west of Kathmandu.

The airport is predicted to be operational by the top of this yr, mission chief Binesh Munakarmi instructed Reuters.

Reporting by Gopal Sharma, Modifying by Rupam Jain and Christina Fincher

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