Indian vehicles carrying food, fuel trickle into Nepal amid shortages due to protests

Protestors belonging to ethnic and religious groups, dissatisfied with Nepal's new constitution, raise slogans during a protest in Janakpur, Nepal, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015. Nepal started imposing restrictions on the movement of vehicles on Sunday as a blockade of cargo trucks trying to enter the country from neighboring India continued to severely limit supplies of fuel and other essential commodities. Trucks carrying supplies from India stopped entering Nepal this past week amid angry protests following the adoption of a new constitution. (AP Photos/Bikram Rai) (The Associated Press)

FILE – In this Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015 file photo, Nepalese oil tankers and commercial trucks stand stranded near a gate that marks the Nepalese border with India, in Birgunj, Nepal. Indian trucks carrying food and fuel began trickling into Nepal which is grappling with shortages caused by a blockade during protests by hundreds of people angry about Nepal's new constitution. The small Himalayan nation depends heavily on supplies from its giant neighbor. Many Nepalese accuse India of retaliating against their government for approving a new Constitution that is seen by New Delhi as discriminatory to an ethnic Indian community living in Nepal's border districts. (AP Photo/Ram Sarraf, File) (The Associated Press)

Indian trucks carrying food and fuel have begun trickling into Nepal, which is grappling with shortages caused by a blockade during protests by people angry about the country's new constitution.

Nepal, a small Himalayan nation, depends heavily on supplies from India, its giant neighbor.

Home Ministry spokesman Laxmi Dhakal says nearly 100 Indian trucks, mostly carrying food, and five tankers loaded with oil and gas entered Nepal on Wednesday after a meeting between officials from the two countries.

Many Nepalese accuse India of retaliating against their government for approving Nepal's new constitution, seen by New Delhi as discriminatory to an ethnic Indian community living in Nepal's border districts.

The Indian government denies the charge and blames weeks-long protests inside Nepal for the disrupted movement of oil tankers and food trucks.