An agreement has been reached between transport authorities of Nepal and the Tibetan Autonomic Region of the People’s Republic of China to continue the Kathmandu-Lhasa-Kathmandu direct bus service, which had been in operation on trail basis.

The agreement was reached after a meeting held from April 19-21 in Lhasa between a team led by Joint Secretary at the Ministry Dinesh Hari Adhikari and Party Secretary-General of the Communications Department of Tibet, Paba Cicheng, official new agency RSS said quoting the Ministry of Labour and Transport.

The direct bus service launched amidst a grand fanfare on the first of May 2005 got caught up time and again. Both the sides now have agreed to make the service more effective.

It was also agreed at the meeting to sort out the obstacles in ensuring smooth running of the bus service including visa processing, visa for tourists from the third world countries, visa fees for Nepali tourists, hotel facilities in Lhasa, garage and ticket counters for the Chinese side in Nepal, RSS reported.

Sajha Yatayat has been operating the bus service from Nepal side while Himalayan Transport has been operating on behalf of the Tibet government in the 970-km route.

A high-level team of the Chinese government is scheduled to visit Nepal this year in order to discuss ways to making the bus service more effective, according to the ministry. nepalnews.com mk Apr 30 06