The new route launched by the Bihar Chief Minister (CM) Nitish Kumar India’s Patna & Bodh Gaya and Nepal’s Kathmandu & Janakpur cities.

According to Bihar Transport Secretary Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, a total of eight buses will run in three routes covering the two countries: Patna-Kathmandu, Patna-Janakpur and Bodh Gaya-Kathmandu.

The new bus service is the result of a public-private partnership commissioned post an agreement between India and Nepal in the past, which includes two different meetings in New Delhi and Kathmandu that led to singing of a tripartite agreement between Nepal, Indian External Affairs Ministry and the Government of Bihar.

“This bus service will further strengthen the relations between India and Nepal. It will prove very beneficial for Buddhist tourists in the two places,” reads a statement by Nitish Kumar.

Besides boosting the tourism aspect of Buddhist Circuit, the new service will also help thousands of travellers moving between India and Nepal, say the officials.

Prior to this, Nepali PM KP Sharma Oli and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi had jointly launched a direct bus transport between Janakpur and Ayodhya on May 11, 2018 under the Ramayana Circuit.

The new service will begin on September 13, 2018. Hope more such initiatives would come up strengthening Indo-Nepal ties in all aspects.

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A decision in this regard was taken at the 3^rd Indo-Nepal Friendship Meet jointly organized by the office of the Nepal Consulate General’s in Calcutta and the Association for Conservation & Tourism (ACT) in Mirik.

As part of the event, concerned stakeholders and people in the border areas of both the regions decided to discuss with their respective governments on ways to enhance road connectivity, promote homestay accommodation in Nepal and conduct publicity campaigns through relevant agencies and boards.

The two sides discussed to launch special campaigns promoting tourism destinations of both the regions in December 2018.

It is the nearest metro that generates a huge number of tourists every year. There will be a Himalayan Orange Tourism Festival in Calcutta in December, where the destinations on both sides of the border will be highlighted – Samrat Sanyal, Travel Trade Expert

The latest decision is coming as a result of rounds of deliberations between the concerned stakeholders over the period to develop a combined tourist circuit promoting tourism potential of both regions.

What Stakeholders Said?

According to the stakeholders, the plan to develop an integrated circuit will boost the tourist sectors of north Bengal and eastern Nepal.

Along with the campaign plan for new destinations, we also intend to focus on conservation of nature and wildlife. In this region, it is necessary to work for conservation of the elephant, red panda and the salamander. There should be an elephant sanctuary in eastern Nepal –Raj Basu, Representative of ACT

Sanyal further informed that a special meeting would be also held in eastern Nepal bringing together the other adjoining countries in the exercise for a combined promotion of tourist destinations in these countries.

The idea is to offer a larger canvas to tourists so that they can have more choices and simultaneously help in economic empowerment of stakeholders, particularly in rural areas, adds Sanyal.

On the occasion, Basu highlighted that the achievement of the Khangchendzonga National Park in Sikkim as the World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

It is necessary to increase the scope of the site to contiguous areas in eastern Nepal and the Himalayan tracts of Bengal, adds Basu.

Stakeholders further added that they would also press for development of new tourism information centers in Mirik close to the India-Nepal border to promote destinations on either side of the Indo-Nepal border.

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The two-week-long journey that began on December 14, 2017, involving elderly Nepali citizens, is a joint initiative of the Nepal Bharat Friendship Society and the Indian Mission in Nepal.

     The two-week-long journey began on December 14, 2017

As part of the journey, the pilgrims will travel around India and Nepal.

“India has age old relations with Nepal which includes the religious, social and the cultural relations. The culture and the other things are similar between the two sides. Many things in Nepal such as Shraddha (commemorating the deceased ones) do not get completed without the pilgrimage tour in India,” says Prem Lashkery, President of Nepal Bharat Friendship Society.

Entering India through Nepal’s Birgunj, the pilgrims will cover Indian places such as Harihar Kshetra, PunPun, Gaya, Bodh Gaya, Kashi Bishow Nath, Bindhabasini, Chitra Kut, Allahabad, Prayag, Ayodhya Ram Janma Bhumi, Gorakh Nath, Tribeni and Devghat before returning to Kathmandu.

Meanwhile, Bidur KC , a pilgrim traveling with the team, feels that this tour will strengthen the Nepal-India relationship.

“This also shows that the relation between the countries is not confined to political level only, but very good relation exists in the religious sector too,” he added.

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