Amid deterioration in ties between India and Nepal over the promulgation of the new Constitution there, senior BJP leader and former external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take note of the worrying situation in the neighbouring country.
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As relations with India have soured there has been increased speculation in Kathmandu over whether fuel could be imported to Nepal from its other large neighbour China, India’s rival in the Himalayas.
India denies a blockade but says its trucks can not enter the southern Tarai region because of the widespread protests by groups upset that the constitution will divide their provinces.
Indian trucks carrying food and fuel have begun trickling into Nepal, which is grappling with shortages caused by a blockade during protests by people angry about the country’s new constitution.
“How can we distribute fuel when our fuel stations are running empty?” said Nepal home ministry’s spokesperson Laxmi Prasad Dhakal, adding that all private vehicles including school buses, tipper and trucks would not be allowed to refill fuel for three days from Thursday.
Border crossings between Nepal and India have essentially been closed due to what the Nepali government is calling a blockade by the Indian government. But not fuel tanks.
A few people in Nepal blame India for the shortage by imposing an embargo.
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There is a long waiting line of Nepal-bound cargo and trucks on the Indian side of the border waiting for security clearance.
