KATHMANDU, Sept 8: Amid criticisms from quarters over the move of Chinese authorities to close two border crossings with Nepal, China has expressed readiness to resume the border crossings to facilitate stranded cargo vehicles arriving on the Nepali side of the border.
Traders had complained that around 500 cargo containers were stopped on their way to Nepal after the closure of two major trade ports unilaterally citing the cause of COVID-19.
According to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, the Chinese authorities have requested the details of the stranded vehicles. According to Urmila KC, Deputy Spokesperson at the Ministry, initiatives are being taken to resume the operation of checkpoints. "The details of the stranded vehicles have been asked by the Chinese side," she said. “Initiatives are being taken to reopen the border crossings.”
According to the Himalayan Cross-Border Chamber of Commerce (HCBCC), hundreds of cargo containers bound to Nepal were stranded for a long time after the Chinese authorities closed the Rasuwagadhi and Tatopani crossings without prior information.
According to Bharat Karki, General Secretary of the HCBCC, trucks carrying materials such as clothes, mobile phones, raw materials for shoes, walnuts, fertilizers, apples, ginger, garlic and others have been stranded on the Chinese side of the border. After the COVID-19 infection was seen in Shigatse, China completely closed both border points on August 10.
Traders are in a panic after millions of rupees worth of goods targeted for Dashain festival that begins after two weeks have been stranded. Traders are in confusion as there is no certainty of the opening of the border. Containers are stranded between Lhasa and the Nepal-China border.
Traders complain that China has closed the border even though the border should be regularized by meeting the international standards related to COVID-19. This is not the first time that China has closed the border. They have been complaining about the lack of diplomatic initiative on the part of the government of Nepal has also exacerbated the problem.
Traders had requested the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Office of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers in writing to take diplomatic initiatives to reopen the border as per the established safety protocols of COVID-19 pandemic.
China is Nepal's second largest trade partner. Goods worth Rs 264 billion were imported from China in the fiscal year 2021/22. Before COVID-19, around 200 to 250 trucks used to import goods from these two ports each day.
For some time after the end of COVID-19, around 25 to 30 vehicles are arriving in Nepal every day. But the number of vehicles coming from China to Nepal has now completely stopped with the restriction posed by the local authorities in Tibet Autonomous Region.
Goods imported to Nepal from Tatopani and Kerung border points normally arrive within 20-22 days. It takes about 40-42 days for the goods to reach Nepal in a container from Kolkata, India. Traders want to import goods from these transit points as it takes half the time to import goods as compared to sea transit from Calcutta.