Nepal protest: Hundreds of Trucks Stuck at India-Nepal Border ....

New Delhi, Sep 11 (IANS) The ongoing Gen Z protests in Nepal have affected the flow of human and goods traffic across its border to India, resulting in a bottleneck that has affected trade and business.India has stepped up security at the borders, with reports of fire being sighted in some villages across Panitanki in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. There were similar reports from Bihar, where violence and jailbreaks occurred across the border in Saptari and Birgunj of Nepal. The situation is almost similar at entry points in Uttar Pradesh.

Traffic continues to be either at a standstill or trickling -- for individuals in urgent need -- at the entry points, affecting the Himalayan nation’s trade relations.

India is Nepal’s largest trade partner, with the volume of bilateral trade exceeding NPR 1,134.53 billion (over USD 8 billion at the current exchange rate) in the fiscal year 2022-23, according to a document released by Nepal’s embassy in New Delhi on May 8.

It added that imports in the 2022-23 fiscal amounted to NPR 1,027.84 billion (more than USD 7 billion now) and exports to India stood at over NPR 106.69 billion (about USD 755 million).

Generally, bilateral trade takes place in Indian rupees, with the currency convertible in all banks and financial institutions in Nepal.

The two governments regularly convene the Inter-Governmental Committee on Trade, Transit, and Cooperation to streamline market access and tariff harmonisation, customs documentation and online certificates of origin, joint infrastructure projects, etc.

These mechanisms ensure the swift movement of staple commodities (like wheat, sugar, and petroleum products) and facilitate Nepal’s access to global markets beyond India.