No international dimension to stand on Nepal at the UN: India

Vikas Swarup said India was awaiting the report from Nepalese government on the killing of an Indian during a protest in Birganj.

New Delhi: A day after it raised for the first time the current crisis in Nepal at the UN, India Thursday said there was no "international dimension" to its statement and asserted that Nepalese government has to address the political crisis which was hampering supplies from Indian side.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup also said India was awaiting the report from Nepalese government on the killing of an Indian during a protest in Birganj.

"There is no international dimension. What India said at the second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is part of the internationally agreed process and as part of Nepal's membership of the UNHRC," he said when asked about India's statement at the Interactive Dialogue at 23rd Session of the UPR Working Group yesterday in Geneva.

Asking Nepal to consolidate Constitution building by accommodating "all sections" while emphasising that problems facing it cannot be resolved through force, India had said,"We note the concerns expressed by UN human rights bodies, UN Country Team and Nepal's own Human Rights Commission over continuing incidents of violence, extra-judicial killings and ethnic discrimination in the country."

India also urged the Himalayan nation to investigate and take credible measures to prevent recurrence of "incidents of violence, extra-judicial killings and ethnic discrimination in the country". This is for the first time, India has raised the issue of Nepal at the UN.

Asked about Nepal's request that ahead of Diwali, India should ensure smooth supply of essential commodities to check anti-India sentiment, the Spokesperson said, "The problem in Nepal is a political problem and has to have a political solution and that what we have been urging Nepal consistently from day one and that is what we will continue doing.

"There is a problem in Nepal due to disaffection among the section of the Nepali population and sooner the Nepalese leadership reaches out to that particular section and reaches to some kind of accommodation, the sooner our supplies can resume which has been caused entirely by the blockade at the Nepalese side of the border."

On the killing of an Indian by Nepal police during a protest in Birganj on November 2, the Spokesperson said, "The embassy has sought investigation report from government of Nepal. Let's await that report."

Swarup also insisted that the obstruction in the supply of essential goods to Nepal was due to protests there. Giving the details of cargo trucks crossing from some of the entry points, he said India has always tried to send its vehicles whenever it could with supplies.

Madhesis, Indian-origin inhabitants of Nepal's Terai region, are protesting against division of their ancestral homeland among other issue under the new Constitution and their agitation has closed the main trading point near Raxaul, halting supply of essential goods from India, causing an acute shortage of fuel in Nepal.