Treaty of Transit: Nepal, India locked in major dispute
NEW DELHI, DEC 14 -
An attempt to renew and modify the Treaty of Transit between Nepal and India has hit a snag following persisting differences on the One Time Lock (OTL) system.
The bilateral Treaty of Transit, which has the provision of automatic renewal every seven years, expires on January 5, 2013. Nepal has long been attempting to incorporate new transit routes into the treaty so failure to modify the bilateral document before renewal will mean that Nepal ’s attempts will be delayed indefinitely.
India , on the other hand, wants to formally incorporate the OTL system in the renewed Treaty of Transit to which Nepal has a strong reservation, high-level government officials said. Nepal maintains that the OTL system is against the bilateral Treaty of Transit.
“Technically, affixing the additional One Time Lock system does not seem to be much of an issue but it has now become an emotional matter related to national integrity,” said one official. “Such an enforcement by another country on the cargo of a sovereign country which enjoys all transit rights does not send a good message.”
India began affixing OTLs on Nepal -bound cargo from third countries via its Kolkata/Haldia ports and vice-versa from August 1, 2011, arguing that Nepal -bound cargo are often “tampered with and the locks are found broken.”
Besides the OTL issue, there are other agendas on the modification list. Nepal wants to incorporate new transit routes for trade with third countries, a provision that India had earlier promised. A few weeks ago, Nepal had formally written to India expressing such an interest. The operation of transit facilities at the Vishakapatnam Port in
Andra Pradesh, India , and Rohanpur (Bangladesh) and Singhabad ( India ) rail route is on the Nepal i agenda. In the joint comminique issued during Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai’s India visit in October 2011, New Delhi and Kathmandu had agreed to expedite procedures to bring these routes into operation. However, there has been little headway. India and Bangladesh had also signed an addendum to the 1978 bilateral Memorandum of Understanding during the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in September 2011, allowing trade between Nepal and Bangladesh along the Rohanpur-Singhabad route. The addendum also paved the way for the operation of the Radhikapur ( India )-Birol (Bangladesh) rail route for trade between Nepal and Bangladesh.
Similarly, India had also promised the use of the Vishakapatnam Port during erstwhile Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal ’s visit to India in 2009, but nothing has come of it. India has meanwhile requested Nepal allow it movement via Nepal i soil while transporting goods from one part of India to another. Obstacles in Bihar
Nepal -bound goods are reportedly being hassled at the Rajauli transit point in the India n state of Bihar. Nepal i entrepreneurs complained that India n officials were asking for unnecessary documents, despite already being by another India n department. Nepal -bound goods from India and third countries are facing similar problems.
“Once agencies in Kolkata passed our goods, other obstacles in another part of India is against our transit rights of free movement,” said a high-level source.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
