Nirajan Poudel
Nepal is getting closer to China – literally.
After the 2015 earthquake damaged Nepal’s only road connectivity with China – Kodari Highway, the government saw Kerung Highway as a viable alternative.
Later that year, when Nepal’s all trade and transit points with India were blockaded, the need to upgrade Kerung Highway was felt even more acutely. It was when the government hired the army to build it through the treacherous mountains of Rasuwa district.
The army is now finally completing the most daunting 17 km double track of the highway between Mailung and Syabrubesi of Rasuwa. Only a 500m section is now left to be opened. When this section is completed in the next five months, Nepal will literally reach closer to China.
Not only will Kerung Highway reduce the distance between Kathmandu and Tibet, it will also be a new silk road for South Asia. China is now extending the Tibet railway track to Rasuwagadhi, and the goods brought by this train will be transported through Kerung Highway to Nepal and India.
To upgrade Kerung Highway, the army has set up camps in Mailung, Gumchet, Trisuli Dobhan and Syafrubesi. Altogether 350 civil workers, backed by a company of 190 soldiers, are now working day and night to complete what could be a new lifeline for the landlocked mountainous country.
The army is using 19 drilling machines and 40 jack hammers to expedite the road construction. Major Sanjaya KC says: “We are working on a war footing”.
To be sure, Kerung Highway is not a new road. The fact that a dry port was built here 55 years ago shows it was used as a conduit for Nepal-Tibet trade long ago. But it was not properly maintained, and only some passenger buses and transport trucks would ply this narrow mountainous road.
But the 2015 earthquake turned out to be a blessing in disguise for people in Rasuwa. After the disaster, China agreed to open the Rasuwagadhi border trade point temporarily.
China, too, now wants to develop Rasuwagadhi road instead of rehabilitating Kodari Highway. The Qinghai-Tibet railway has already arrived Xigatse, and China plans to extend it down to Kerung, which is just 35 km north of Rasuwagadhi, by 2020. This railway project is a part of Beijing’s 13th five-year development plan.
“The writing on the wall is pretty clear,” says Kaisang Tamang, Gosainkunda Village Council Chair of Rasuwa district. “For China, Kerung Highway is its new gateway for trade with not just Nepal but the whole of South Asia.”
Historical records show that Kerung Highway was as important as Kodari highway during Nepal-Tibet war. It was the second important trade route between Nepal and Tibet.
But King Mahendra preferred to develop Kodari Highway, which is also known as Araniko Highway, during his visit to Beijing in October 1961. While Kodari highway was developed as the only Nepal-China road, Kerung gradually sunk into oblivion.
The royal palace was wary of how Indian wrath, so the Panchayat government did not give importance to infrastructure development along Kodari Highway. As a result, cross-border trade volume began to shrink at Rasuwagadhi. By the early 80s, Rasuwagadhi trade point had become just a shadow of its former shelf.
People in Rasuwa had to wait for almost three decades for revival of Nepal-China trade through this point. China began rehabilitating its old dry port in 2009, signaling that it will eventually develop Rasuwagadhi as a new transit route.
China has also shown interest in building integrated customs office with Nepal. Nepal authorities say China is also ready to help them upgrade Nepali infrastructure, which is in a very poor condition right now.
Birganj and Bhairahawa, two of Nepal’s largest trade points with India, are closer to Rasuwagadhi than Tatopani. So China believes it can reach out to India for trade more easily through Rasuwa. This is why China is all out to extend any support to Nepal in jointly developing Kerung road under its Belt and Road initiative.
But this has also made India nervous about China’s growing presence in what it considers its traditional sphere of influence. Nepal has traditionally been closer to India than China, but it has learnt why it is important to diversify its cross-border trade. And Rasuwagadhi could be instrumental for just that.
