The standoff between India and Nepal intensified yesterday after the Nepalese Armed Police Force detained 13 Indian border guards for allegedly crossing the border.
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The Indian government, on its part, maintains that its opposition to the new constitution is not to do with Nepal’s status as a Hindu nation, but linked to security concerns as Madhesis are protesting the new constitution in the Terai region of Nepal bordering India.
He will attend a religious function there on Tuesday and then reach New Delhi where he is likely to hold informal talks with the Indian political leaders about Nepal’s contemporary issues, according to RPP Nepal Co-General Secretary Rajaram Shrestha.
Nepal has asked India to investigate a shooting by border guards that has wounded at least four people and to punish those involved.
The Madhesis say the new constitution unfairly divides the Himalayan country into seven states with borders that cut through their ancestral homeland. They are demanding a bigger state than granted in the new constitution and greater representation in the government.
“Our strike is against India’s blockade and its intervention in Nepal’s internal affairs”, the party said in a statement.
On Wednesday, the Indian Embassy in Nepal termed reports published by a section of the Nepali media regarding firing by Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) personnel “inaccurate”.
Nepal accuses India of imposing an “undeclared blockade”, which India denies.
Nepal, however, maintained that India had imposed a blockade.
Shortages mean there is no fuel for private cars and the Nepalese authorities have rationed petrol for taxis and buses.
Party members claimed that they burnt the vehicle and smashed its window panes to protest India’s blockade of road transport of supplies of food items and other commodities to Nepal.
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To ease the fuel shortage, the Nepal Oil Corporation signed an agreement in October to source fuel from China, ending the longstanding monopoly of Indian Oil Corporation as Nepal’s sole fuel supplier. Relations between India an Nepal have nosedived over the difficulty.
