Kathmandu, Jan 16 (PTI) The Nepal government on Sunday reiterated that Limpiyadhura, Lipulek and Kalapani are the country’s “integral part” and urged India to stop all construction activities but asserted that it is committed to resolve the border issues through diplomatic channels.
The remarks comes a day after the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu issued a statement here, saying India’s position on its boundary with Nepal is “well known, consistent and unambiguous. It has been communicated to the Government of Nepal”.
“It is our view that the established inter-governmental mechanisms and channels are most appropriate for communication and dialogue.
“Mutually agreed boundary issues that are outstanding can always be addressed in the spirit of our close and friendly bilateral relations,” the statement said.
On Sunday, Communications and Information Technology Minister Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, who is also the Nepal government’s spokesperson, said that the government is “firm and clear about the fact that Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani region east of the Mahakali river is an integral part of Nepal.” “The government of Nepal has been urging the government of India to stop all unilateral steps such as construction and expansion of any roads that goes via Nepali territory,” Karki said while making public the decisions of the meeting of the Council of Ministers.
The minister said that the government of Nepal “is committed to resolving the boundary dispute between the two countries on the basis of historical treaty, agreements, documents and maps and in line with spirit and sentiment of close and friendly ties between Nepal and India.” His remarks comes at a time when there were protests in Nepal against the construction of a road along Lipulek by India.
On Friday, the ruling Nepali Congress issued a statement in which it opposed the construction of road through Lipulek.
Reiterating that Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura are Nepali territories, the party urged India to immediately withdraw its troops stationed in the Kalapani region and amicably resolve the border row through high-level dialogue based on historical facts and evidence.
The Lipulekh pass is a far western point near Kalapani, a border area between Nepal and India. Both India and Nepal claim Kalapani as an integral part of their territory – India as part of Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district and Nepal as part of Dharchula district.
The bilateral ties came under strain under then prime minister K P Sharma Oli after India opened an 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8, 2020.
Nepal first protested the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through its territory, and days later, it came out with a new map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as its territories. India reacted sharply to the move.
However, in June 2020, Nepal’s Parliament approved the new political map of the country featuring areas which India maintains belong to it.
After Nepal released the map, India criticised the move, calling it a “unilateral act” and cautioning Kathmandu that such “artificial enlargement” of territorial claims will not be acceptable to it.
In November last year, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand that there was an attempt to create misapprehensions in Nepal about a road from Lipulekh Pass to Mansarovar through Dharchula that was inaugurated by him. PTI SBP ZH AKJ ZH ZH
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.