UPDATE: 1 person was killed in police firing during protests at the India-Nepal border on Monday. The police reportedly opened fire on Madheshi protesters at the Birgunj-Raxaul border point.
The Madhesis have been protesting against Nepal's new constitution, which will divide the country into seven federal provinces.
ORIGINAL STORY
The first fuel deliveries from China to Nepal began on Sunday with Nepal receiving 73.5 metric tons of petrol in the first batch of Chinese delivery, a Nepali official said on Sunday.
The first fuel delivery came through 12 fuel tankers sent by Nepal Oil Corporation(NOC) to China on Saturday and Sunday. "We have received 73.5 metric tons of petrol from China in these two days," NOC spokesperson Deepak Baral told Xinhua.
The fuel-filled tanks have been on the way from the northern hilly district Rasuwa to the Kathmandu valley, said the official.
Meanwhile, ABC reported that Nepalese police removed protesters from a key border point on Monday to allow more than 200 vehicles stranded for the past 40 days to cross over to India, officials said.
Police official Hobindra Bogati said five protesters were also detained when police removed them and the tents they had pitched on the bridge between custom check points of the two countries. He said 205 trucks and other vehicles had crossed from Birgunj in Nepal to Raxaul in India and more were lining up.
However, the trucks bringing fuel and other goods to Nepal were still blocked by Indian custom officials.
The ethnic Madhesi people have been protesting the new constitution adopted in September in the Nepal Parliament and have been on strike acrossn southern Nepal for a month and blocked the border point, which has resulted in a severe fuel shortage across Nepal.
At least 45 people have been killed in the protests since August. Police raided the protesters' camp before dawn when they were still sleeping in the tents, removed the tents and lined up the trucks to leave Nepal. By Monday morning, there were small groups of protests in Birgunj but no reports of any clashes or violence, ABC said..
Following talks with Madhesi representatives on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Kamal Thapa said the government would address the Madhesi's main demand of a bigger state through discussions with other political parties.
Lal Bahadur Rawat of the United Democratic Madhesi Front said that Sunday's meeting was positive and that the two sides would meet again for further talks. He said, however, that the protests would continue in southern Nepal, ABC added.
