SHANGHAI, June 15 (Xinhua) -- Hearing the news that the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is opening on July 1, an Indian entrepreneur opened his eyes wide. "Really? When? That's good news," said Narayan Rao, vice president of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd. Co., a pharmaceutical company.

    "I have longed for a visit to Tibet," he said, "but I know it is pretty hard to build roads on the 'world roof', and altitude sickness prevents me from driving on plateau." When the railway opens to tourists, he believes that tourism in Tibet shall be boosted.

    During his two-year stay in China, Narayan shuttled between his office in Shanghai and the corporation where they invested in Kunshan, a booming city in east China's Jiangsu Province.

    Although he hasn't any investment plan in Tibet yet, the man showed his interest in the impetus of this highest railway to the development of Tibet and western China as a whole.

    "I know there exist disparities in China's regional development,and the situation is similar in India," he said, "construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is part of China's efforts to achieve balanced and harmonious development. Other countries could draw on China's experience."

    Like Narayan, Avinash Datta was excited to learn about the operation of the railway. He had just changed his job from Mahindra, one of India's top 10 enterprises, to a tractor manufacturer in Nanchang, capital city of east China's Jiangxi Province.

    "Productivity of agriculture and husbandry in Tibet shall be improved then. We will have a new market," he said.

    Compared with those "big businessmen who travel by air", the merchants on the Sino-Indian border who trudge on the rugged road of Himalaya with horses or yaks all year round are extremely eager to see the improvement of traffic in Tibet.

    In the trade market of Pran, a small Indian county on the juncture of Napal, India and China's Tibet, 54-year-old Indian businessman Singh was trading with Tibetans. "We like to trade with businessmen in Tibet," he said, "their income has increased greatly in recent years and they have big requirements."

    To Singh's satisfaction, textiles, handicrafts like bronze ware and commodities like perfume are selling well.

    The dark-skin businessman predicts that the operation of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway would greatly accelerate economic and trade developments in Pran, which is 1,300 kilometers away from Tibet's capital city of Lhasa.

    "The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is not just a big deal for the Chinese," said Singh.

    V. Prakash, Indian Consul General to Shanghai, believes that "This is a rare opportunity for further development of Sino-Indian trade".

    Narayan, the Indian entrepreneur, likes to use the word "Chindia", which becomes popular in recent years. "India and Chinahave long-term close relationship," he said, "the Qinghai-Tibet Railway may become a new bridge, not only for our trade, but also for deepening our understanding and friendship." Enditem