Nepal forms panel to talk China energy cooperation

Kathmandu: The Nepal government has formed a committee to hold talks with China to implement a key bilateral agreement on energy cooperation, which could potentially end the land-locked nation's decades-long dependency on India for its power needs.

Nepal and China had signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Energy Cooperation during the visit of Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to Beijing in June.

Nepal, which used to import its entire energy needs from India, turned to China in 2015, after facing crippling oil supply shortages following the economic blockade at the Indo-Nepal border by agitating ethnic Madhesis. The Madhesis, who are Indian-origin inhabitants of the Terai region bordering India, alleged that Nepal's new constitution promulgated by the then government did not give them sufficient political representation.

At the height of the economic blockade, which triggered a wave of anti-India sentiments in the country, Nepal began strengthening ties with China, courting infrastructure investments and signing deals on energy. Nepal had signed a similar energy cooperation agreement with Bangladesh also earlier this month.