Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi visited Kathmandu in December and, according to Nepalese reports, said the line could eventually be extended to the Nepalese capital and further, potentially providing a crucial link between China and the huge markets of India.
Such a plan could see a tunnel being built under Mount Everest, the China Daily said.
“The line will probably have to go through Qomolangma so that workers may have to dig some very long tunnels,” expert Wang Mengshu told the newspaper, referring to Everest by its Tibetan name.
He said that, due to the challenging Himalayan terrain with its “remarkable” changes in elevation, trains on any line to Kathmandu would probably have a maximum speed of 75 kilometres per hour.
The proposal underscores China’s influence in the impoverished Himalayan nation, where Beijing has for years been building roads and investing billions of pounds in hydropower and telecommunications.
Chinese tourism to Nepal, which is home to eight of the world’s 14 peaks over 8,000 metres, is also climbing.
Beijing’s increasing role has raised alarms in New Delhi that China, already closely allied to Pakistan, is forging closer economic ties with Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Nepal in a deliberate strategy to encircle India.
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