Worries of another trade embargo by India has set off panic buying of fuel in Kathmandu with long lines of motorists forming in front of gasoline stations from early in the morning. Lalitpur local Bikram Shrestha said he arrived at the Sajha Petrol Pump at Pulchok at dawn on Monday to find that there was already a long queue. “I came here as early as possible after hearing that India was imposing a blockade once again,” said Shrestha who was waiting in line with almost 100 other motorcyclists. He seemed convinced that India would launch another blockade as Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had signed a transit agreement with China.

During the recently concluded trade embargo that lasted four and a half months, the country was crippled by a fuel shortage forcing the government to sell firewood in the Kathmandu Valley so that people could cook their food. Meanwhile, the state-owned oil monopoly Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) said that fuel shipments from India were normal, and that there was no sign that they would be reduced.