KATHMANDU, March 6: China has included building an important "passageway" connecting Tibet with South Asia in the 14th Five Year plan which is due to commence from this year, media reports said.

China will support Tibet in building the passageway to South Asia, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported, quoting the 14th Plan document which was submitted to the National People's Congress, (NPC), China's Parliament.

The annual session of the NPC began in Beijing on Friday. "China's Tibet Autonomous Region will be supported to build an important passageway opening to South Asia," the report said.

The draft outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for national economic and social development and the long-range objectives through the year 2035, which were cleared by the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), have been submitted to the NPC for formal approval.

Though the Xinhua report has not mentioned, China has been planning for a long time to build the Trans-Himalayan Multi-Dimensional Connectivity Network through Tibet and Nepal.

It was regarded as a part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation between China and Nepal.

Nepal and China have already agreed to build a trans-Himalayan connectivity network.

In 2019, China and Nepal signed a protocol to operationalize their 2016 Transit Transport Treaty which provided access to the landlocked Himalayan country to use Chinese ports for its foreign trade, reducing the dependence on Indian ports.

Besides the road network, the two countries are considering the extension of a rail network from Tibet to Nepal.

The two countries are also working to build a cross-border railway connecting Tibet and Kathmandu.

(With inputs from Press Trust of India) 

 
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