40 Nepali vans taken to India for G20 Summit

KATHMANDU: A fleet of 40 Toyota Hiace multipurpose vehicles has been transported from Nepal to India for the use of officials and guests during the G20 Summit.

An official from the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu confirmed to Himal Press that the embassy has issued road permits for 40 Toyota Hiace vehicles.

The Indian car rental giant, KTC India, rented these vehicles from various travel agencies and vehicle rental companies in Kathmandu. In a recent social media post, the company proudly announced, “This marks the first time that vehicles imported from Nepal will be used by KTC India for the G20 Summit.”

India is set to host the G20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9 and 10.

The G20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Unionl Leaders of major nations like India, China, the United States, Japan, and the EU, among others, are participating in the summit.

This is probably the first time that vehicles have been rented from Nepal for use in India. When Nepal hosted the 18th SAARC Summit in Kathmandu in 2014, it had imported luxury vehicles from India. Later, the Government of Qatar provided nine Mercedes-Benz sedans to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, alleviating the need to import vehicles from India when Nepal hosted the BIMSTEC Summit in Kathmandu in 2018.