India rejects 'false' allegations of blockading Nepal trade checkpoint

India has rejected allegations that it blockaded a key trade checkpoint on the border with Nepal amid protests over the country's new Constitution.

Briefing reporters on the bilateral and multilateral engagements of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Vikas Swarup said, it is for the people of Nepal and the political parties in Nepal to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution for which ownership can be taken by all sections.

Swaraj had a bilateral meeting with Nepal Foreign Minister Mahendra Pandey where she had said the allegation that India had imposed a blockade was totally false.

Swarup said that India can only take goods up to the border and beyond the border it is the responsibility of the Nepalese side to ensure that there is adequate safety and security for the trucks to enter that side. He said that 4,310 trucks are waiting at the border but cannot proceed into Nepal due to the disturbed security situation.

Yesterday, trucks from India carrying essential goods and petroleum products started entering Nepal which is grappling with a fuel crisis due to the blockading of a key trade checkpoint by protesters opposing Nepal's new Constitution.