Ruling NCP wants early settlement of border issue

Kathmandu, May 10

Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda said the border issues between Nepal and India should be resolved at the earliest.

"We must seek solution through the political and diplomatic initiatives. Alternative methods should also be put in place if political and diplomatic channels do not work," he said at the meeting of the State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the Federal Parliament on Sunday.

The former Prime Minister said that the issue of border dispute was a complex one and needed special attention due to its persistence for a long time.

He said that the border dispute of Limpiyadhura had reached a situation that called for a tripartite understanding of Nepal, India and China. "Following the Lipu Lekh incident, the border dispute has become a trilateral issue which also involves China," he said.

In response to lawmakers’ demand to take the issue to the international court, Prachanda urged them to contemplate whether time had come to internationalise the issue.

He was of the view that India's act of including Nepal's Limpiyadhura and Lipu Lekh as its territory in political maps should be reviewed. India has published eight different maps at various times which include Kalapani area as its territory.

"The Indian Army is stationed in Kalapani for decades. What did the governments in the past do about the issue? Have they worked for the national interest and territorial integrity? If not, why? We have to find answers to these questions," said Prachanda.

He cited Sugauli Treaty of 1816 as an evidence that Lipu Lekh belonged to Nepal and Limpiyadhura is the origin of Kali River.

He appreciated the government's stand against the Indian road construction through the Nepali territory. "Your view that the government must also spring to action apart from writing a letter to India is valid," he said to the lawmakers.

 Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal said that the country had made a serious mistake in the past by allowing India to keep its border posts in the Nepali land.

"India has turned the temporary post as a permanent one and is developing the area as a trade and tourist route," he said.

Lawmakers had demanded prompt action from the government in terms of protecting the land of the country.

Halt road construction: NCP chairmen

Earlier, on Saturday, the ruling NCP had asked India to immediately halt the road construction works in Kalapani area and urged the latter to refrain from taking any activity that will further complicate the matter.

"The current unilateral action has come contrary to Nepal's repeated requests for resolving the boundary issues through established mechanism as agreed by the two governments at the highest political level," read a statement of the party which is signed by the chairmen due KP Sharma Oli and Prachanda.

The party has urged the government of Nepal and India to immediately take necessary initiatives to resolve all the boundary issues through diplomatic means as per the understanding reached between the two.

It is deplorable that this development has taken place at a time when the entire humanity is faced with unprecedented health crisis in the wake of coronavirus, read the statement.

Border issue will be resolved through dialogue: India

India said the other day that the road from Pithoragarh of Uttarakhand to Lipu Lekh inaugurated on Friday lay completely within the territory of India and claimed that the route followed the pre-existing route used by the pilgrims of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.

However, official spokesperson of the Indian government conceded that the boundary delineation exercise with Nepal was going on. India is committed to resolving outstanding boundary issues through diplomatic dialogue and in the spirit of our close and friendly bilateral relations with Nepal, read its statement.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 11 May 2020.