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Nepal sent an expedition last year to measure the height of Mount Everest and China had mounted an expedition this year for the same. Both the countries together will announce the new height of the mountain.

A memorandum of understanding is exchanged between China and Nepal last month which has titled the joint announcement of the height of Mount Sagarmatha/Zhumulangma which is also called Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world.

The draft MoU was exchanged between China’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Nepal’s Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives, and Poverty Alleviation.

According to article 1 of the MoU, China and Nepal will together discuss the date and details about the mode of the announcement in any time soon.

According to the joint statement between the People’s Republic of China and Nepal on October 13, 2019, both the countries shall jointly announce the new height of Mount Everest.

While the draft does not specifically say about the joint measurement but it does mention a collaboration in the mapping. Article 5 of the draft MoU calls on Beijing and Kathmandu to establish a communication mechanism to promote the joint collaboration on various activities related to surveying, mapping and geoinformation management.

Last year, Nepal has sent an expedition to the mountain to examine the current height of the world’s highest peak on the planet, and this year, China has also sent a team for the same purpose.

As per reports, China is keen on the expeditious announcement by both the countries on the new height of Mount Everest that both the countries have calculated.

Article 4 of the draft Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries headlines that China and Nepal shall jointly conduct the scientific research, and engineering cooperation in the fields of topographic mapping and geographic information systems in and around the region where the Mount Everest is situated.

The current elevation of Mount Everest is 8,848 meters which is recognized by India, China, and Nepal. It was established by an Indian survey in 1955. The new development on the height of the highest peak on the earth is expected to raise the eyebrows globally as China and Nepal come close to each other for this.

A heated debate erupted after the massive earthquake in Nepal in 2015 with suggestions from the nations that the mountain has shrunk after the powerful tremor.

Nepal, by this new expedition, hopes to quash this persistent speculation that its height has shrunk. Mount Everest lies on the Himalayan range straddling the border of China and Nepal.

By Gayatri Yellayi