Myagdi: Chief Minister of Gandaki Province, Surendra Raj Pandey, has said preparation has been made for the operation of Korala cross-border checkpoint in Mustang. After carrying out onsite visit reaching Pillar no 24 located at the border between Mustang and Tibet Autonomous Region of China on Wednesday, Chief Minister Pandey pointed out the need of constructing physical infrastructures immediately at the border area in Mustang, as physical infrastructures towards Tibet have already been constructed.
He mentioned, “The government is in preparation to open the Korala checkpoint and we held discussions with federal government, Prime Minister and concerned ministries on this issue. The government’s attention was focused towards making the road reaching up to Korala checkpoint possible for regular movement of vehicles upgrading the road.” Trade fair which is organised twice a year at Korala checkpoint has not been organised since 2076 BS following the corona pandemic.
On the occasion, Chief District Officer of Mustang, Janak Raj Pandey, mentioned that the Chinese side was ready to open the checkpoint and talks with Chinese officials will be held in this regard. Similarly, preparation is on to make arrangement for allowing the cross-border movement of the people residing at the place around 30 kilometers of the checkpoint in all months on the basis of identity card. After inspection of the checkpoint, Gandaki Province-level security committee and Mustang district level security committee meetings were held in Korala.
A team comprising Chief Minister Pandey, federal parliament members and province assembly members had visited locals of more than 10 villages of bordering areas. An interaction was held among the chief minister, people’s representatives and locals regarding status of projects run by the province government, budget allocated in the current fiscal year and complaints of locals, said CM Pandey’s press coordinator Narahari Sapkota.