Indian vehicles ply to Nepal from Banbasa

BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, October 8

Indian vehicles, including four-wheelers, started plying to Nepal from Banbasa today though the Nepalese authorities had failed to assure their Indian counterparts of safety of the vehicles. Also, students have started an agitation in Mahendra Nagar after the name of a campus of Far Western University in the town was changed recently.

“Though Nepalese students have started a new agitation, we have allowed Indian vehicles to ply to Nepal as the hostile attitude against them has softened in the last 12 days,” DS Kunwar, Champawat SP, said.

“We decided to allow four-wheelers to ply to Nepal from the Banbasa border from Thursday as the agitators in the neighbouring country did not damage two-wheelers from India during the past few days,” he said.

The vehicular movement from India was halted after a Maoist students’ organisation threatened that Indian vehicles would be set on fire if these entered Nepal. The threat was in protest against India’s continuous support to the Madhesi agitation against the recently promulgated Nepalese constitution.

“Though the Nepalese authorities have not given any assurance in this connection, we allowed vehicular movement to Nepal from the Banbasa border post as the business communities in the two countries hav arrived at an understanding,” PS Sailal, DIG, Kumaon region, said.