Details on how much fuel Nepal would receive, prices and other arrangements still need to be worked out, Baral said, but confirmed the supply would be on a regular basis.
Advertisement
The spokesman also signalled that China could well become a long-term fuel supplier to Nepal, undercutting Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), which had been the sole supplier of fuel to Nepal for four decades. The tanks having capacity of 12,000 liters each are placed at Timure, a few three km from the border Rasuwagadhi. “In what way this agreement is going to help, it is to be seen”, the MEA spokesperson said.
Kerung is a few 25 km away from the border Rasuwagadhi.
The land-locked and fuel-starved Himalayan country at present imports all its petroleum needs from India at a cost of a few $1.1 billion each year.
Nepal has formally asked China to supply petroleum products after it suffered a huge crisis as India blocked all the supplies.
Nepal had on Wednesday signed a MoU with Petro China in order to import all kinds of fuel from China, ending a long-held monopoly of buying fuel from the IOC.
Kathmandu is exploring the possibility of transporting fuel via its northern land crossings with China, one of which reopened this month after suffering damage in the quake that caused widespread devastation in the impoverished country in April.
The gasoline will be brought to a town near the China-Nepal border.
Lu also used the opportunity to congratulate Bidhya Bhandari on her election as Nepal’s first woman president. “They had discussions with relevant authorities in China on the trade of oil products”, Mr. Lu said.
“We are making all efforts from our side to send things to Nepal”. Indian officials say the import obstructions are on the Nepalese side.
Highly placed sources in Nepal told The Hindu that the request to China for supplies was routed through Narayan Kaji Shrestha, the Vice-Chairman of the ruling UCPN (Maoist) during his visit, earlier this month, to Beijing where he attended a conference on the revival of the Silk Road.
Advertisement
In a regulatory filing on August 25, International Olympic Committee said it had inked an agreement with NOC regarding construction of an oil pipeline with an annual capacity of 1.3 million tons. This is thought to be the largest fuel delivery since September 22.
