Nepal seeks resumption of direct air link with Myanmar

YANGON, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Nepal is seeking resumption of direct air link with Myanmar in a bid to promote tourism between the two countries over two decades after such direct link was suspended, the local Yangon Times reported Thursday.

The move would strengthen the two countries' bilateral friendship and introduce Nepal to Myanmar, sources with the Nepali Embassy was quoted as saying.

Myanmar and Nepal once established direct air link in 1970 but due to the internal affairs of Nepal, the direct flight between the two countries was halted in 1988.

In February 2001, Nepali Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola visited Myanmar and had discussions with his then Myanmar counterpart U Win Aung on maintenance of friendly relations between the two countries and mutual cooperation.

There were almost no economic and trade activities between the two countries except maintenance of cultural exchange.

Nepal, along with Bhutan, joined the seven-member Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) in 2004 as the last two members of the grouping, the five original members being Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand sharing the Bay of Bengal.

The BIMSTEC, first founded in 1997, is aimed at promoting multi-sectoral cooperation for economic and social progress of the region.