14 January 2008
China proposes oil and rail link to Kathmandu
(Bernama) As India’s Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, is on official visit in China, the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Cheng Xia Ling, has confirmed his country’s intention to establish a rail link to Kathmandu and has offered to supply oil to Nepal. "The China-Tibet railway link will not end in Lhasa, as we have plans to expand it up to the Nepalese border", the Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted the Ambassador as saying. Mr Cheng said China also wants to establish road links to "promote regional peace and development". He also said China wants to supply petroleum products to Nepal. "We are working towards developing a permanent and long term mechanism to supply petrol to Nepal from China", he said. Nepal is currently facing severe shortages in its petrol supply due to the government’s lack of cash. China is itself is a net importer of oil, with nearly 40% of its oil coming from overseas and this figure is certain to grow in coming years. Apart from the technological challenges, the establishment of a pipeline across Tibet required to supply Nepal would mean a huge investment that would be unlikely to prove economically viable for the foreseeable future. Mr Cheng also condemned the American government's plan to resettle Tibetan refugees in the US. "Tibet's problem is an internal affair of China, so we don't want any kind of interference in it", he said.