Nepal PM Says Both India, Nepal Encroached Border Areas

“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,” Shah was quoted as telling the Nepalese Parliament. He added, “Both countries have agreed to resolve the issue by sitting together, with the help of historians, surveyors and concerned experts, through diplomatic means.”

The Nepalese Prime Minister, who assumed office only a few weeks ago, was further quoted as saying, “You will be surprised to know about a fact, which I learnt only recently after becoming Prime Minister. India has not only encroached on Nepalese territories, but Nepal has also encroached on India’s territories in many places. Now both countries should study the facts and sit together as friends to resolve the issue.”

Shah reportedly said Kathmandu had also held diplomatic discussions on the issue with China, as some Indian territories claimed by Nepal are located near the trijunction of India, Tibet and Nepal. He also referred to Britain because of its colonial role in India.

Six years ago, Nepal issued a new map showing Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani areas of Uttarakhand as part of Nepal. The move was undertaken by the then government in Kathmandu led by K.P. Sharma Oli. Nepal claimed that, under the Treaty of Sugauli signed between British India and Nepal in 1816 after the Anglo-Nepal War, “all territories east of the Kali (Mahakali) River, including Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh, belong to Nepal.”

Earlier this month, India rejected Nepal’s territorial claims as “untenable” after Kathmandu opposed the India-China move to conduct the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the Lipulekh pass in Uttarakhand, arguing that Lipulekh belongs to Nepal. Last year, New Delhi had said India and Nepal were “discussing boundary matters through established platforms” and that “any unilateral actions” by Kathmandu would not change the reality on the ground.