Buddha Air flight scheduled from Pokhara to Banaras has been postponed. Birendra Bahadur Basnet, executive chairman of Buddha Air, has claimed that India has not given permission to fly to Banaras because the Pokhara Regional Airport, which was built with Chinese loans, was linked to the BRI project.

In an aviation meet held at the Hilton Hotel in Naxal on Friday, ahead of the 26th anniversary of the Nepal Civil Aviation Authority, Buddha's executive chairman Basnet revealed that the first international flight scheduled by Buddha from Pokhara had to be postponed due to China's statement that the airport was under the BRI project after the completion of the Pokhara Regional Airport. Earlier, Buddha had not made an official statement about not getting the permission to fly to Banaras .

2 years ago Buddha announced the first international flight from there to Banaras in India through ATR-72 aircraft at the opening of Pokhara Airport. However, after not getting permission from India until the last moment, Buddha had to give up on the first test flight on the runway of Pokhara Regional Airport.  

The day before the inauguration of this airport, the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu wrote on social media that it was a major project of BRI cooperation, "The opening ceremony of Pokhara International Airport will be held at 11 am tomorrow". This is a major project of Nepal-China BRI cooperation. Hearty congratulations to the Government of Nepal and the people of Nepal.'

The next day (17th of January 2017) the Chinese Acting Ambassador to Nepal Wang Xin, who arrived at the inauguration of the Pokhara Regional Airport, said that 'Pokhara Airport has become a bright work for BRI'. Similarly, in June 2080, the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Chan Song also said that Pokhara Airport is under the BRI project. Ambassador Chan said this while addressing the program held after the landing of the first international commercial ship in Pokhara.

Buddha's executive president Basnet said that the process of permission was started after receiving the 'green signal' from India for the first flight from Pokhara to Banaras . "Pokhara Banaras flight permission was received in Nepal within three days at that time", Executive Chairman Basnet said, "Then we asked India for permission to fly to Banaras through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We applied . But, that file is still circulating . India did not say not to grant flight permission, but that file is circulating.'

Buddha's executive president Basnet said that the government should tell if Pokhara airport is under BRI or not. We understand that India did not allow us Banaras due to BRI. If India does not give permission, it is not possible to fly out of India by ATR aircraft from that airport," he said.

Former Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai said that the Pokhara Regional Airport is not within the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) framework regarding the matter that Executive Chairman Basnet is interested in. He said that Pokhara Regional Airport was not mentioned in the agreement signed during the recent visit of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to China. The concept of BRI came in 2013. Nepal signed to join BRI in 2017. But the foundation stone of Pokhara was laid in 2016," said Bhattarai, who is also the UML secretary.

China has invested 215.96 million US dollars (around 27 billion) in Pokhara. Of this, 25 percent is interest-free and the remaining 75 percent is debt. On May 31, 2014, a contract was signed between the Civil Aviation Authority and the contractor company China CAMC Engineering Company Limited for the construction of the airport.