Oil-starved Nepal seeks suppliers to bring fuel by air
“India is not responsible for the situation in Nepal”.
Nepal has accused India of being behind the latest blockade at the bridge checkpoint in Birgunj, 90 kilometres (55 miles) south of the capital, in protest at Kathmandu’s handling of the charter.
Asked about the statements by Nepali leaders that they will provide security to transport coming from India, he cited instances of Indian truckers facing violence and said they had apprehensions over their safety and security.
Kathmandu accuses New Delhi of imposing a blockade on the landlocked Himalayan country, which, it says, has severely impacted the import of essential supplies, including petrol, cooking gas and medicine. Airlines have been forced to reroute flights to ensure they have adequate fuel, throwing Nepal’s tourism-dependent economy into turmoil just months after the country’s worst natural disaster in eight decades.
As Nepal braces itself for the third week of the Indian blockade and almost two months of a Tarai shutdown, it is becoming increasingly clear that the standoff between the two neighbours is not really about the recently-adopted constitution or the rights of the excluded plains community.
In the weeks since Nepal implemented its new constitution on September 20, an abrupt blockade along the country’s border with India has slowed oil and other imports to a trickle.
The NOC has planned to import fuel either from Bangladesh or Malaysia as short term solution.
According to media reports, NOC has suggested the government of constructing a petroleum storage plant in the Nepal-China border area. Protests called by the ethnic Madhesi Democratic Front (MDF) and Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Loktantrik (MJF-L) have claimed more than 40 lives so far.
He said the Constitution-making process was seen as unfair by certain sections of the Nepali population and hence they protested. “We should act in a mature manner and give Nepal the space that it needs to sort its own domestic affairs”.
Mahat, Nepal’s finance chief, said India hasn’t formally made any demands related to the constitution.
Baral said the country was also exploring the possibility of bringing in oil from China, to the north. However, the two border points and the route were damaged by the April quake and the roads are narrow and terrain hard.
In Kathmandu, Rana said, many residents are blaming Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had pledged to improve ties with the region when he took office in May 2014. “People are very, very angry”.