Kathmandu-Varanasi-Kathmandu bus service flagged off

The Kathmandu-Varanasi-Kathmandu bus service was on 5 March 2015 flagged off jointly by India and Nepal. Nepal Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Bimalendra Nidhi and Ambassador of India to Nepal Ranjit Rae flagged off the bus service.

The bus service was launched under the ambit of Motor Vehicle Agreement signed between India and Nepal during the 18th SAARC Summit.

This is the second direct bus service between Nepal and India. Earlier in November 2014, during the 18th SAARC Summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala jointly launched the direct bus service between Kathmandu and the New Delhi.

Highlights of Kathmandu-Varanasi-Kathmandu bus service
• The Varanasi to Kathmandu service is called the Bharat-Nepal Maitri Bus Seva (India-Nepal Friendship Bus Service).
• It seeks to promote religious tourism and people-to-people contact between both the countries by connecting the two religious cities.
• This bus service will connect Kathmandu’s Pashupatinath Temple with Varanasi’s Kashi Vishwanath Temple as both shrines are considered important pilgrimage sites by Shiva worshippers all around the world.
• The Varanasi to Kathmandu AC bus service will be a daily bus service which will reach Kathmandu via Azamgarh, Gorakhpur and Sonauli (Maharajganj district), covering about 600 km distance in 12 hours.