One Belt, One Road? China opens highway in Tibet linking Nepal border
The highway could be used by China for trade and defence purposes
China has opened a strategic highway in Tibet linking Nepal which experts said willforge a route to South Asia, China's state-run Global Times reported.
The Tibet highway between Xigaze airport and Xigaze city centre officially opened to the public on Friday,with a short section linking the national highway to the Nepal border.
The road links the city's ring road with the G318 highway from Shanghai to Zhangmu on the Nepal border, the report said.
The highway between Xigaze peace airport and Xigaze is 2-meter-wide withfour double lanes, is classified as a first-tier highway.
The 40.4-kilometer highway will shorten the journey from an hour to 30 minutes between the dual-use civil and military airport and Tibet's second-largest city, the Tibet's Financial Daily reported.
In May, Nepal’s foreign secretary Shanker Das Bairagi and Chinese ambassador Yu Hong had signed a MoU under Beijing’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative which is China's attempt to build a Silk Road to fuel its ambitious trade projects which could also be used for military purposes.
According to a World Bank body, Nepal imported goods worth $6.6 billion in 2015 and exported goods worth $660 million, China's intends to increase its trade relations with the Himalayan kingdom to cut India's influence.
The highwayexperts say is China's first step towards putting the OBOR network to work.