Tatopani-Zhangmu Border Point to be Jointly Inspected by Nepal and China

Having recently arrived at an agreement to reopen the Tatopani-Zhangmu border point that was closed following the earthquake of 2015, both China and Nepal have agreed to inspect the area together to assess what has to be done to achieve the reopening. Following the closure of this border point, the road link between these two countries has been limited to the Rasuwagadhi-Kerung route, which is situated to the north of Kathmandu.

 

Both nations concluded a meeting on trade and commerce on Friday, July 6, 2018, and arrived at the decision to conduct the inspection together as one of the points of their cooperative agenda, moving forward. Rabi Shankar Sainju, joint secretary of Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply (MoICS), made a tentative outline of when the inspection would take place, saying in a statement to Xinhua, “We will conduct joint inspection of the border point within two to three weeks.”

 

Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Yu Hong in a statement made in March when both nations jointly signed an agreement to greenlight the way for the China-aid Post Disaster Recovery for Tatopani Frontier Inspection Station, said, “Unfortunately, given the frequent occurrence of geographical disasters, facilities and roads surrounding Zhangmu port are further deteriorated. But the Chinese government will carry out positive work of disaster treatment and road repair on the Chinese side of the port.” China continues to pledge its support for Nepal and the country’s overall development, having played a major role in providing disaster relief aid to Nepal following the devastation of the 2015 earthquake.