India reacts guardedly to Nepal-China pact for oil

A “concerned” India on Friday reacted guardedly to the agreement between Nepal and China for oil supplies, saying its impact on the future of Indo-Nepal trade has to be seen.

It also hoped that Nepal will “sincerely” address the problems that have caused the current situation and that Indo-Nepal relationship will return to its original status. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said India was ready to facilitate airlifting of the Aviation turbine fuel, as was done in the past, as also re-routing of LPG supplies from those crossings, which were not affected.

“We have seen reports that Nepal has signed a pact with China. Nepal’s maximum trade is through India. As far as petroleum products are concerned, 70 per cent of petrol is supplied through Raxaul-Birganj point (which is choked by agitators). How is this (Nepal-China) pact going to help has to be seen,” he said. Swarup was asked about Nepal signing an agreement with China for the supply of petroleum products, following shortages caused by the blockade of land routes from India due to unrest over the new Constitution. Swarup said: “We will certainly be concerned over the growth of any anti-India sentiment in Nepal and hope that the situation, which has been caused entirely by problems on the Nepalese side, will be resolved at the earliest and our relationship would once again return to its original status.” 

Asserting that India has not imposed any blockade, the supply was stopped because Nepal’s one section of the society was not in agreement on provisions of the Constitution and they were not allowing supplies from the Indian side.

“We have facilitated airlift of aviation turbine fuel earlier and are ready to facilitate future similar operations and requests. We are also facilitating re-routing of LPG supplies from those crossings that are not affected,” he said. The spokesperson hoped that talks between the government of Nepal and the United Democratic Madhesi Front would be fruitful and lead to an early political settlement.

“We hope that such a political resolution of issues facing Nepal would be institutionalised in a manner that would ensure broad-based ownership and acceptance of the Constitution by all section of the society, including those disaffected agitating forces,” he said. 

There has to be an acknowledgment of the problem that exists on the Nepalese side and efforts to address them in sincere manner, he added.

Swarup termed the Indo-Nepal economic relations as “diverse multi-faceted, deep--rooted, stand on their own merit and have natural logic” and noted that two-thirds of Nepal trade is with India and bulk of the third country trade passes through India. Nearly half of the foreign investments in Nepal is from India, he said.

Noting that India and Nepal ties goes beyond transactional, he said India pushes 300 to 400 trucks everyday from the crossing points, which are not affected by the agitation at the Nepalese side. Asked about Indian aid to Nepal, he said it was $1 billion earlier and $1 billion after quake, but maintained that the Indo-Nepal ties were not based on aid but on close social and cultural ties.