Bid to ease Nepal fears

TT, New Delhi, Sept. 25: India today said any restriction on the movement of vehicles carrying goods or people between its territory and Nepal was a result of violence in that country, trying to ease fears of a blockade akin to one New Delhi imposed in 1989. 
Nepal too tried to tamp down tensions with India over Kathmandu's new constitution, calling back its ambassador in New Delhi for consultations, the first hint of attempts to try and resolve a growing bilateral crisis. 
The placatory moves followed a week of public diplomatic statements issued by India asking Nepal to hold fresh consultations with the Madhesi and Tharu communities in the Himalayan nation's plains over controversial clauses in the constitution that these communities are opposing.
National security adviser Ajit Doval had on Wednesday met Nepal's ambassador Deep Kumar Upadhyay here to try and convince him of the need for an early resolution to the simmering bilateral tensions over the constitution, senior officials said. 
"We have seen reports of obstructions at various entry-exit points at the India-Nepal border," the ministry of external affairs said today in a statement.
"The reported obstructions are due to unrest, protests and demonstrations on the Nepalese side, by sections of their population."
In spite of the statement, Nepal's acting foreign minister called Indian envoy Ranjit Rae to raise the "obstruction" of supplies.
Rae repeated to him what the foreign ministry had said in its statement, sources said. In 1989, amid growing bonhomie between Nepal and China, India had imposed a blockade against its northern neighbour after a transit treaty with Kathmandu expired over differences with New Delhi. India's decision this week to step up security at key posts along its border with Nepal had triggered fears of a repeat for some in that country.