Nepal have signed its first ever fuel agreement with China today in Beijing to supply petroleum to ease a fuel crisis after protests blocked imports from sole supplier India. Due to blockage by India hundreds trucks have been stranded at a key India-Nepal border checkpoint for more than a month, cutting off vital supplies and forcing fuel rationing across the landlocked Himalayan nation. The shortages have led to overnight queues at gas stations in the Nepalese capital and prompted the government to turn to its northern neighbour for help, ending a decades-long monopoly by India as tensions deepen between New Delhi and Kathmandu. "We have signed a MOU (memorandum of understanding) with China National United Oil Corporation to supply the petroleum products that Nepal needs," said Deepak Baral, spokesman at the state-run Nepal Oil Corporation. Minister Pun had also held a meeting with the Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) officials to finalise the preparation, according to the Rastriya Samachar Samiti. The government would dispatch a team to China to discuss purchasing fuel for regular and long-term trade soon, Pun told the RSS. Meanwhile, the government would also import fuel from India by rerouting obstructed tankers via other border points, Pun added. During the visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamal Thapa to India last week, the Indian government had reportedly expressed its commitment to cooperate Nepal in rerouting the obstructed vehicles. The nation is reeling under the acute shortage of fuel for over one month due to obstruction in supplies via various Indo-Nepal border points.
