An Indian youth was killed on Monday when Nepal police opened fire on protesters near the India-Nepal border. The incident, likely to worsen the already tense situation on the border, came on a day that Nepal received its first consignment of petrol from China to tide over its oil scarcity.
New Delhi, in the aftermath of the police firing, advised Indian freight forwarders and transporters to “exercise caution and not put themselves in danger”, which is likely to deepen the scarcity of essential goods that landlocked Nepal has faced for over a month now because of protests and blockade of border roads by Madhesis.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed “shock” at the killing of the 19-year-old in police firing in a phone call to his Nepal’s counterpart KP Oli. Modi also requested Nepal’s PM for details of the incident. “At the same time, the Prime Minister urged Nepalese leaders to work towards ensuring an early and effective solution to the crisis,” the PMO said. Nepal’s envoy to New Delhi Deep Kumar Upadhyay also met South Block officials.
In a statement, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the government was monitoring the situation on the border carefully. It expressed its deep concern at the killing of an innocent Indian in the firing.
In a reference to mainstream Nepalese political parties being reluctant to accommodate the concerns of that country’s Madhesis people, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, “Issues facing Nepal are political in nature and cannot be resolved by force. Causes underlying the present state of confrontation need to addressed by the Government of Nepal credibly and effectively.”
According to Home Ministry sources, 19-year-old, Ashish Ram, of Raxaul in Bihar was killed after he received a bullet shot in his head when police opened fire on protesters at Shankaracharya Gate near Birgunj Customs.
This incident took place after clashes in different parts of Birgunj when Nepal police baton-charged Indian-origin Madhesi protesters in a pre-dawn swoop, burned down their tents and evicted them from the key Miteri bridge at the Indo-Nepal border, opening the main Birgunj-Raxaul border trading point for the first time in 40 days.
Violence in the area forced authorities to clamp an indefinite curfew.
Nearly 200 empty trucks stranded in the Nepalese side of the border were allowed to enter into the Indian territory during the brief period when the police took control of the area.
Several protesters were injured after police fired rubber bullets to maintain law and order. Eight personnel of Nepal Police and Armed Police Force have also sustained injuries after agitators hurled stones at them.
Madhesis - who claim to represent the interests of the Indian-origin inhabitants of Nepal's Terai region (plains) - have been protesting close to the main trading point near Raxaul. Their agitation has led to a halt in supply of essential goods and has caused acute shortage of fuel in Nepal.
But Nepal’s fuel shortage somewhat eased when it received 73.5 tonnes of oil from China today. Twelve trucks carrying petrol from China today entered Nepal through Rasuwagadhi trading point, PTI reported. The supply follows an agreement inked between Nepal Oil Corporation and Petro China in Beijing last week. China has agreed to supply petroleum products to Nepal to fulfil one third of its demands, Nepalese Ambassador to China Mahesh Maskey told a Nepalese television channel today. China has agreed to provide 1,000 metric tonnes of oil equivalent to 1.2 million litres to Nepal on grant basis as relief in the festival season.
Officials from Nepal Oil Corporation and Petro China will hold discussion on fixing prices for the petroleum products to be supplied to Nepal for long term consumption, he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed "shock" at the killing of the 19-year-old in police firing i a phone call to his Nepal counterpart KP Oli. "The Prime has expressed shock and condemned the unfortunate killing of a youngster from Bihar due to police firing in Nepal," the Prime Minister's Office said.
The PM also requested Nepal PM for details of the incident. "At the same time, the Prime Minister urged Nepalese leaders to work towards ensuring an early and effective solution to the crisis," the PMO said. Nepal envoy to New Delhi Deep Kumar Upadhyay also met South Block officials.
