Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah claimed in his country’s Parliament on Sunday that Kathmandu and New Delhi had encroached upon each other’s territories, reported The Kathmandu Post.
“After becoming prime minister, I came to know that not only has India encroached on Nepal’s land, but Nepal has also encroached on India’s land in multiple place,” Shah was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
India maintains that the area is part of Uttarakhand and has rejected Kathmandu’s territorial claims to the region.
On Sunday, Shah said that New Delhi and Kathmandu had agreed to resolve the dispute “sitting together with the help of historians, surveyors and concerned experts through diplomatic means”, reported PTI.
New Delhi had said at the time that Nepal’s “artificial enlargement” of claims is “not based on historical fact or evidence and is not tenable”.
Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah claimed in his country’s Parliament on Sunday that Kathmandu and New Delhi had encroached upon each other’s territories, reported The Kathmandu Post.
“After becoming prime minister, I came to know that not only has India encroached on Nepal’s land, but Nepal has also encroached on India’s land in multiple place,” Shah was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
He was answering a question about the Kalapani-Limpiadhura-Lipulekh area. India maintains that the area is part of Uttarakhand and has rejected Kathmandu’s territorial claims to the region.
On Sunday, Shah said that New Delhi and Kathmandu had agreed to resolve the dispute “sitting together with the help of historians, surveyors and concerned experts through diplomatic means”, reported PTI.
“The Nepal government has officially sent a diplomatic note to India, mentioning the issue of encroachment of territories by India, including Lipulekh, and we have already received their response,” he was quoted as saying.
Shah said that Nepal had also held discussions about the dispute with China, as the region sits near the trijunction of India, Tibet and Nepal, as well as the United Kingdom.
“Our view is that the UK should also take an interest, as the issue dates back to the period when British India left the region,” the prime minister was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post.
The border problem between India and Nepal began in 2019 after Kathmandu objected to a new map released by India, which showed the Kalapani area as part of Indian territory.
In response, New Delhi said that it had not made any change to its border with Nepal and that the new map depicts Indian territory accurately.
The tensions escalated in May 2020 when Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a new route for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the Lipulekh Pass.
Nepal has repeatedly claimed that India’s decision to build the road was a breach of an agreement between the two countries. It claims the Lipulekh Pass on the basis of a treaty signed with British colonisers in 1816.
In June 2020, the Nepali Parliament amended its Constitution to include a new political map of the country featuring the Kalapani-Limpiadhura-Lipulekh area as its territory.
New Delhi had said at the time that Nepal’s “artificial enlargement” of claims is “not based on historical fact or evidence and is not tenable”.
Earlier this month, Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had raised concerns about the Mansarovar Yatra being conducted through what it claimed is “ Nepali territory ”.
It said that it had conveyed its position to India and China through diplomatic channels and had consistently urged New Delhi “not to carry out any activities such as road construction or expansion, border trade and pilgrimage in the area”.
New Delhi responded by saying its position on the matter has been “consistent and clear”.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that Kathmandu’s territorial claims are “neither justified nor based on historical facts and evidence”.
Edited by Sneha.
