Indian Ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae hinted on Tuesday that the Raxaul-Birgunj route might not see any respite anytime soon because of continued demonstrations by Madhes-based parties.

Raxaul-Birgunj is the busiest conduit between Nepal and India. Efforts are being made to reroute the cargo, freights, gas bullets and fuel tankers so that they could enter Nepal through other border points, Rae told journalists at Reporter’s Club in the Capital. He also dismissed suggestions that supplies from the Indian border would ease soon.

“Whether it is perception or reality, people in Madhes are agitating,” he said. The Indian envoy, however, stopped short of making any commitment as to when the unofficial blockade by India would be lifted.

Ambassador Rae said that protests and agitation in the Tarai have changed their form and the situation has become more complicated after the unfortunate incident in Birgunj last week in which an Indian national was killed. “But we hope that talks will take place and results will come,” he said.

“We just urged the Nepali leadership to promulgate the new constitution as per the desire and wish of the people so that maximum stakeholders can own it up. But since that did not happen, there are dissatisfactions,” he said, insisting that India had clearly communicated with the Nepali leadership that there could be some troubles in Nepal if the problems on the ground were not sorted out. “And today we are witnessing the situation,” he added. “So the unrest in the Tarai that surfaced after the promulgation of new constitution should be addressed politically and there is no alternative to dialogue.”

Stating that the problems that have cropped up along the Nepal-India border were doing no good to both the countries, Rae stressed

on finding a solution at the earliest. Expressing concern over the growing anti-India sentiment in Nepal of late, the Indian ambassador said, “The increasing anti-India sentiment does not benefit any of the two countries.”

Describing Nepal-India relations as historic and cultural, Rae said no country is enemy of the other. He said he believed the situation would normalise if the demands of the agitating parties are met. On the special resolution, passed by a Cabinet meeting on Monday, to request the southern neighbour to work towards improving the ties between the two countries, Rae said he was yet to see the document, but added that he hoped the Indian government would respond positively.