Nepal-Bangladesh bilateral trade halted

Rain Man said:

Thd Terai (plains) people like Madheshis, Tharu and other Janjatis are 51% of Nepal's population, and they are getting only 65 seats in a 165 seats Nepali parliament, Pahari (mountain) people are 49% of Nepal's population and they are getting 100 out of 165 seats, guaranteeing Paharis' rule over the Terai people in perpetuity under their new 'democratic' constitution. There has been a long history of discrimination against the Terai people in Nepal, they are considered and treated like 2nd class citizens in Nepal..and that's the root cause of this conflict.

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Yah I was aware of the under-representation in the govt as being the source of the current situation. I was just unsure of the percentage they have in Nepali population. I can see why they are standing firm.

The real conspiracy is indeed against them. It is my understanding that the province lines have been drawn to split them up everywhere and keep the mountains consolidated. If you ask me, the solution lies in bifurcating the highlands and lowlands provincially and then draw whatever cross lines you deem appropriate.

extra terrestrial said:

Come on dude, you are one of the good ones. You clearly know that the blockade is covertly imposed by India not the madheshis. It won't take much effort to silent the protesters if they were really Nepal's own people.

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If the Madheshis get their fair share in representation as is their due....then there is no reason to squabble about who is supporting them secretly or whether it is completely their own actions and Nepal is just afraid of upsetting the situation further by sending in the troops (and possibly causing a civil war).

One things for sure this Status quo is only hurting Nepal...surely they can be civilised and address the Madheshi concerns for the greater good? Are they really that paranoid about ensuring mountain people always having the greater political power? We all know how that worked out for the two wings of Pakistan.

extra terrestrial said:

Come on dude, you are one of the good ones. You clearly know that the blockade is covertly imposed by India not the madheshis. It won't take much effort to silent the protesters if they were really Nepal's own people.

BTW, I guess BBIN is about to have a slow death....

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As per the article itself, even Indian Dabur couldn't deliver their product to Bangladesh from their Nepal unit...where is your sense of logic?

extra terrestrial said:

BTW, I guess BBIN is about to have a slow death....

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We shall see! Maybe it will just be BBI for the time being till Nepalis all come to their senses and do the fair thing for all their people.

Nilgiri said:

If the Madheshis get their fair share in representation as is their due....then there is no reason to squabble about who is supporting them secretly or whether it is completely their own actions and Nepal is just afraid of upsetting the situation further by sending in the troops (and possibly causing a civil war).

One things for sure this Status quo is only hurting Nepal...surely they can be civilised and address the Madheshi concerns for the greater good? Are they really that paranoid about ensuring mountain people always having the greater political power? We all know how that worked out for the two wings of Pakistan.

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See Nepal is just another developing country like the rest of the Subcontinent. We can't deny that there are discriminations in our own countries as well. The best solution would be to let them mold in their own way; they know the best what is good for them. I understand India's concern about its position as the regional power but as the things are progressing, these are seriously going to hurt India in the long run. The anti-India sentiments is high now and Nepal is surely going to reduce its dependence on India and find better alternatives.

In the long term plan, the NOC has recommended for importing fuel from China and sending a technical team there for a feasibility study.

The corporation has also suggested the government of constructing a petroleum storage plant in the Nepal-China border area.

Nepal govt mulls airlifting fuel to ease crisis - The Times of India

Rain Man said:

As per the article itself, even Indian Dabur couldn't deliver their product to Bangladesh from their Nepal unit...where is your sense of logic?

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Yes and the revenues of Nepal Dabur is large enough to reverse such strategic decisions....

Nilgiri said:

We shall see! Maybe it will just be BBI for the time being till Nepalis all come to their senses and do the fair thing for all their people.

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I'm not sure, the main objective of Bangladesh behind signing the deal was to get a direct link with Nepal.

Sooner or later, Nepal will succumb to Madheshi pressure and the constitution will be amended as they demand. Till then Bangladesh can airlift their products to and from Nepal if they wish.

Bilal9 said:

The fact that Nepal cannot enforce the law and control its own people with its own army and military forces is disheartening.

How can a bunch of illiterate political goons shut down an entire border? Where are the brave Gurkha troops from the Nepalese Army? Time for establishing and imposing martial law. These are matters of national security.

These Madheshi people are shooting themselves in their own collective feet. No development will come to these regions anymore.

On the International front - Nepalese should take the issue to the WTO and seek redress for damages from India for this conspiracy.

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Ok, We will ask my Nepalese friends to take the matter to WTO. Lets see if anyone hear their plea.

extra terrestrial said:

See Nepal is just another developing country like the rest of the Subcontinent. We can't deny that there are discriminations in our own countries as well. The best solution would be to let them mold in their own way; they know the best what is good for them. I understand India's concern about its position as the regional power but as the things are progressing, these are seriously going to hurt India in the long run. The anti-India sentiments is high now and Nepal will surely going to reduce its dependence on India and find better alternatives.

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Yah well if India violently aids in punishing the Madheshis who have been nothing but friendly to India....we automatically lose 51% of the population of Nepal supporting us + whatever people in the mountains are anti-India no matter what India does. So no thanks. We will continue to voice that Nepal does not deny its own majority of people fair representation as they want....and also not use anything more than words since we know the Nepalese mountain tribes cannot hold out indefinitely in this status quo.

It is damned if we do, damned if we dont either way. So we will support the guaranteed assured friends....they are the 51% anyway. Those within the mountains that already see reason + those that will come around eventually will only add to this number as time goes by and Nepal will hopefully make a better division of its country so there is no discrimination towards the demographic structure of the country. In an ideal world there would be no provinces at all and everyone would identify as Nepali period. But unfortunately we dont live in an ideal world....and Nepali history is not full of sunshine and rainbows.

extra terrestrial said:

In the long term plan, the NOC has recommended for importing fuel from China and sending a technical team there for a feasibility study.

The corporation has also suggested the government of constructing a petroleum storage plant in the Nepal-China border area.

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Nepal mountain tribes are free to circumvent Madheshi blockade any way they can. India will raise no objection. They are just prolonging the inevitable. When Nepal faced so many years of Maoist violence and finally made a peace with them ....the certainly have the fortitude to resist the reality for however long they want to....but eventually accept it, make the pragmatic compromise and move on with developing their country with Indian and regional cooperation.

extra terrestrial said:

I'm not sure, the main objective of Bangladesh behind signing the deal was to get a direct link with Nepal.

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You are free to put pressure on Nepalese govt to resolve the situation so things can go on as normal. Joining Indian bandwagon is probably your best bet for quickest resumption of unobstructed trade route to Nepal.

scorpionx said:

Sooner or later, Nepal will succumb to Madheshi pressure and the constitution will be amended as they demand. Till then Bangladesh can airlift their products to and from Nepal if they wish.

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And those airlifted goods cost many times more.

Manindra said:

And those airlifted goods cost many times more.

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Bangladesh is a rich country. I am sure they can easily manage that. They are even planning to export rats for their wretched western neighbor.

Bangladesh farmer who killed 160,000 rats in one year crowned national champion

scorpionx said:

Bangladesh is a rich country. I am sure they can easily manage that.

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But consumer is Nepal which is one of the poor country like rest of the South Asia except BD

China cancels Nepal flights as trade blockade hits fuel supply amid escalating civil strife | South China Morning Post

China is cancelling their regular scheduled flights because of the fuel shortage....and Nepal somehow thinks airlifting fuel is going to work.

Good luck to them! They have about 5 - 6 billion dollars of forex reserves. Lets see how long it lasts.

Manindra said:

But consumer is Nepal which is one of the poor country like rest of the South Asia except BD

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I mean those imported products from Nepal will easily be affordable. Bangladesh can subsidize their export in Nepal.

scorpionx said:

I mean those imported products from Nepal will easily be affordable. Bangladesh can subsidize their export in Nepal.

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Now, that can happen but its need BD to charge money on their Export & Nepal would only pay transportation cost but still it would be costly for Nepalis compared to general days as transportation cost more than goods value transported.

Well this looks like the start of the end of the BBIN grouping (was never going to be a big earner for us anyway). Bangladesh needs to move away from trying to build a regional trading block and focus on trading partners in the ASEAN region, the EU, the Middle East and North American markets....where we actually make our money.

Our infrastructure investments need to be based around whats in the best interest of Bangladesh, like roads from major cities and industrial zones to ports, expanding the numbers and sizes of the main ports, building greater power generation capacity, expansion and diversification of the industrial base, etc.

Building road and rail connectivity based around connecting eastern and western parts of india provides very little to Bangladesh. Time to focus on whats in our main interest, and forget this regional BBIN crap....

damiendehorn said:

Building road and rail connectivity based around connecting eastern and western parts of india provides very little to Bangladesh. Time to focus on whats in our main interest, and forget this regional BBIN crap....

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Get rid of Hasina first and you have a chance