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Modis dream bus Varanasi to Kathmandu debuts on March 5

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Kathmandu: India and Nepal are launching a direct bus service between Varanasi and Kathmandu from Thursday, linking the two prominent cities – home to Pashupatinath and Kashi Vishwanath temples.

This will be the second direct bus service between Nepal and India after the Kathmandu-Delhi bus service launched last year.

On the sidelines of the 18th SAARC Summit in November last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepali counterpart Sushil Koirala had flagged off the Kathmandu-Delhi direct bus service.

The new bus service will promote religious tourism on both sides as people of Varanasi and Kathmandu can easily travel between the two cities, said Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Physical Planning and Infrastructure.

The Varanasi-Kathmandu bus service will be jointly flagged off on Thursday morning from Dasharath Stadium by Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transportation Bimalendra Nidhi, Joint Secretary in the Indian Road Transport and Highways Ministry, Sanjay Bandopadhyay and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae.

Two modern 35-seater air-conditioned coaches will ply daily from both sides. There is also a plan to start a third bus service linking Patna and Kathmandu, officials said.

Modi in November held talks with his Nepalese counterpart, Sushil Koirala on key strategic issues after which 10 agreements, including the $1 billion assistance to Nepal, were inked.

Modi and Koirala discussed a host of strategic issues, including defence and security, during their talks.

The agreement for the $1-billion line of credit to Nepal was signed between Nepal’s Finance Ministry Joint Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini and David Rasquinha, Deputy Managing Director of Exim Bank.

It was then they inked the twin-city pacts between Kathmandu-Varanasi, Janakpur-Ayodhya and Lumbini-Bodh Gaya.

However, in recent years, the increasing dominance of Maoism in Nepal’s domestic politics, along with the strengthening economic and political influence of the People’s Republic of China has caused the Nepalese government to gradually distance its ties with India.

But with some deft diplomacy New Delhi has been able to overcome the Chinese influence and this bus will strengthen these ties.

(With inputs from NewsMobile State Bureau)

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