By Shannon Tiezzi
China will provide 1.3 million liters of gasoline to Nepal as supplies from India continue to be disrupted.
China will supply gasoline to Nepal for the first time ever, in response to a dire fuel shortage caused by disrupted supply lines with India. A Nepal Oil Corporation official announced on Sunday that China would supply 1.3 million liters of gasoline, which would be transported to Kathmandu from the border via 100 tanker trucks.
As my colleague Ankit reported previously, crucial supplies from India stopped flowing across the India-Nepal border in mid-September, just after Nepal ratified its new constitution. The Madhesi and Tharu ethnic groups are protesting against the constitution, saying it will leave them underrepresented in Nepal’s government. India has urged Kathmandu to address their concerns. In that context, many Nepalis see the halt of border trade as an unofficial blockade designed to pressure Nepal into changing its constitution.
That’s also the official position from Kathmandu. “Our stand is this is a vengeance from India as they are not happy with Nepal’s new constitution. This is a trade blockade, just not officially announced,” Nepali Home Ministry spokesperson Laxmi Prasad Dhakal said in a statement in late September.
India, however, maintains that there is no blockade, saying that truck drives from India are simply unable to cross into Nepal due to ongoing protests. That explanation hasn’t satisfied Nepal – some protesters even marched in Kathmandu carrying an effigy of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (which was subsequently confiscated by police, according to Reuters).
Read the full story at The Diplomat