Nepal to ink 1st fuel import deal with China

Nepal will sign a contract on import of petroleum products from China that has pledged to provide the supplies at an affordable price within a week to the fuel crisis-hit nation following a blockade of its key trade border points with India, officials said today. After Beijing agreed to provide 1.2 million litres of oil as ‘gift’ to Nepal in the wake of the festival season, Kathmandu will officially seal its first oil trade deal with China, ending India’s monopoly over fuel supplies to the landlocked Himalayan nation. A seven-member Nepali delegation comprising officials from ministries of foreign affairs, finance, law and Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) will leave for Beijing tomorrow, Joint Secretary at Ministry for Supplies Shambhu Ghimire was quoted as saying. Minister for Commerce and Supplies Ganesh Man Pun, said they had assured him of supplying petroleum products to Nepal after a week of signing the agreement.