Kathmandu, November 20

Nepal will not allow nationals from a third country to travel to India by rail via the recently launched Kurtha-Jayanagar railroad after Indian officials raised a red flag, citing security concerns, a media report said here on Saturday.

“This was agreed while finalising the standard operating procedure (SPA) for cross-border railway operation,” Deepak Kumar Bhattarai, Director General of the Department of Railways, was quoted as saying by a newspaper.

Nepal and India share a porous border, which has been a hotbed for criminals and terrorist activities.

On October 22, India handed over the 34.9-km-long cross-border rail link connecting Jaynagar in Bihar to Kurtha in Nepal to the Nepal Government. The SPA is a document outlining the procedures to be adopted while operating the railway service between the two countries. India’s security concern was one of the reasons why it took so long to finalise the SPA, Bhattarai said. — PTI