China is planning to dig a tunnel under Mount Everest to build a high-speed railway line linking Tibet and Nepal, according to the Times of India.
Previously Beijing proposed extending the Qinghai-Lhasa railway to Nepalese border without a tunnel. The railway has now been extended to Shigatze, the second largest city of Tibet which is close to China’s border with Nepal.
The extension may be Beijing’s attempt to make a short cut into the Indian market and involve Nepal in the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Forum for Regional Cooperation, which New Delhi has been less than enthusiastic about. The high-speed rail link passing through Mt. Everest will be completed by 2020. The Indian newspaper, however, said Beijing is trying to stop Tibetans from traveling through Nepal to meet the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala in India’s Himachal Pradesh state so China has strengthened its ties with Nepal and increased its annual aid to the country from US$24 million to US$128 million.
Photo: the Qinghai-Tibet Railway
Share on:
