中国将向尼泊尔供应130万升汽油

China is to supply fuel to its impoverished neighbour Nepal for the first time, amid a halt in Indian supplies that has severely disrupted life in the mountainous country still struggling to recover from April’s devastating earthquake.

中国将首次向贫困邻国尼泊尔供应燃料。尼泊尔正努力从4月破坏力极大的地震中恢复，而印度中断燃料供应严重影响了这个山地国家的生活。

Nepali officials flew to Beijing on Monday to negotiate the terms of the petroleum purchase deal, which will in effect end the longstanding role of India’s state-owned Indian Oil Company as Nepal’s monopoly fuel supplier.

尼泊尔政府官员周一飞抵北京，商讨汽油购买协议的条款，这实际上将结束印度国有企业印度石油公司(Indian Oil Company)作为尼泊尔垄断性燃料供应商的长期地位。

Nepali government officials have said the initial transaction will lead to China providing 1.3m litres of fuel, but analysts suggest it could evolve into a long-term arrangement that would end Nepal’s dependence on India.

尼泊尔政府官员表示，初始交易是中国将提供130万升汽油，但分析人士表示，这可能会变成一项长期安排，将结束尼泊尔对印度的依赖。

The deal comes as Nepal and its 28m people face crippling fuel shortages amid severe disruptions to supply from India. “Nepal is reeling,” Kanak Mani Dixit, publisher of Kathmandu-based Himal Southasian magazine, told the Financial Times. “The hospitals don’t have oxygen. The ambulances don’t have gasoline and the roads are empty. All industry has come to a standstill.”

此际，由于来自印度的供应中断，尼泊尔及其2800万人民正面临严重的燃料短缺。“尼泊尔正步履蹒跚，”加德满都Himal Southasian杂志发行人凯纳克氠尼迪克西特(Kanak Mani Dixit)告诉英国《金融时报》，“医院里没有氧气。急救车上没有汽油，路上空无一车。所有行业都陷入停滞。”

New Delhi denies imposing a deliberate fuel blockade on its poorer neighbour, blaming the disruption on the unwillingness of Indian truckers to pass through parts of Nepal where residents are protesting sometimes violently against a recently adopted constitution.

印度否认故意对其较穷邻国实施燃料封锁，将供应中断归咎于印度卡车司机不愿通过部分尼泊尔地区，这些地区的民众正抗议（有时抗议相当猛烈）最近实施的一部宪法。

But after nearly a month of fuel and cooking gas shortages, most Nepalis believe the crisis is the result of New Delhi seeking to force the country to change the document.

但在遭遇燃料和厨房燃气短缺近一个月后，多数尼泊尔人认为，这场危机是印度试图迫使尼泊尔更改宪法的结果。

“India is trying to blunderbuss its way to forcing Nepal to be a client state and do its bidding so the Indian state can get what it wants,” said Mr Dixit. “But India must understand it is playing with fire.”

“印度试图通过粗暴的方式迫使尼泊尔成为附属国并听其号令，这样印度就能得其所愿，”迪克西特表示，“但印度必须明白它在玩火。”

Nepal’s constitution crafted after more than nine years of tortuous negotiations was adopted in September with a two-thirds majority of Nepal’s elected constituent assembly. But it has been criticised by members of the Madhesi community, which lives in Nepal’s plains, accounts for 32 per cent of the total population and has close ethnic, cultural and social ties with people from the adjacent regions of India.

今年9月，在经过9年多的漫长谈判后，经过选举产生的尼泊尔制宪会议以三分之二多数票通过了一部宪法。但这部宪法遭到了马德西族裔的批评，他们生活在尼泊尔平原地区，占该国总人口的32%，与来自邻近的印度地区的人们有着紧密的民族、文化和社会联系。

Many Madhesi politicians are aggrieved that the plains home to about half of Nepal’s population, including people from other ethnic communities were not designated as a distinct province but divided into parts of multiple provinces. Madhesis have seen this drawing of state boundaries as a plot to weaken their political influence.

让很多马德西政治人士感到不满的是，这些平原地区没有被单独列为一个邦，而是被分成多个邦。这些平原地区的人口约占尼泊尔总人口的一半，包括来自其他族裔的人。马德西人将这种划分邦府界线的做法视为一场阴谋，目的是削弱其政治影响力。

New Delhi has not called publicly for any particular changes, but has urged Nepal to find a “mutually acceptable solution” that will satisfy all parties.

印度没有公开呼吁某项宪法改革，但印度敦促尼泊尔找到让各方满意的“互相认可的解决方案”。

The tension between Kathmandu and Delhi is an unfortunate turn in a relationship that was poised for strong improvements a year ago, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first Indian premier in 17 years to visit Kathmandu. India won many hearts with its rapid rescue and relief efforts after the earthquake.

尼泊尔与印度之间的紧张是双方关系的一个不利转折，一年前，两国关系曾出现巨大改善，当时印度总理纳伦德拉莫迪(Narendra Modi)成为17年来首位访问尼泊尔的印度总理。在尼泊尔大地震后，印度的快速救援和赈灾措施赢得了很多尼泊尔人的心。