Nepal / Will get back land from India through dialogue: Nepal PM

Kathmandu: At a time when both the countries agreed to hold talks to solve the border dispute over Kalapani, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Thursday said that his government will get back Kalapani through diplomatic efforts and dialogue on the basis of historical facts and documents.

“We will get back the land occupied by India through holding a dialogue,” PM Oli said in Parliament.

While addressing the Parliament, the PM claimed that India has built a Kali temple, created “an artificial Kali river” and “encroached the Nepalese territory by deploying the Army” at Kalapani. 

Notably, the Kali river defines the border between the two countries.

The claim from the prime minister comes amid a raging boundary row between the two countries with India asking Nepal not to resort to any “artificial enlargement” of territorial claims after Kathmandu released a new political map laying claim over Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura.

For over a month now, the bilateral relation between India and Nepal came under strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8.

Soon after the inauguration of the road project, Nepal reacted sharply claiming that the road passed through Nepalese territory. However, India rejected the claim asserting that the road lies completely within its territory.

On the other hand, Nepal says that the country had control over the area before 1962, when the India-China war took place. At that time India stationed its army seeking permission from then Nepalese rulers for temporary purpose, but it never removed its forces, they claim.

Earlier this week, the Nepalese Parliament unanimously endorsed a proposal to consider a constitution amendment bill to pave way for putting the new political map that includes Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura in Nepal’s national emblem.

Recently, PM Oli also raised objection to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s reported remark that Nepal should not repeat the mistake which Tibet made. “If Adityanath spoke about that, it was not appropriate,” he said.

“It is not appropriate to threaten Nepal in that way… This should not have been spoken by a chief minister of UP,” he said.