The government has expressed expressed regret over India constructing road to Mansarovar of China through Lipu Lekh.
Issuing a statement on Saturday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also urged India to refrain from carrying out any activity inside the territory of Nepal. "The Government of Nepal has consistently maintained that as per the Sugauli Treaty (1816), all the territories east of Kali (Mahakali) River, including Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipu Lekh, belong to Nepal," the statement says. "This was reiterated by the Government of Nepal several times in the past and most recently through a diplomatic note addressed to the Government of India dated 20 November 2019 in response to the new political map issued by the latter."
The ministry has pointed that the unilateral act runs against the understanding reached between the two countries including at the level of prime ministers that a solution to boundary issues would be sought through negotiation. "In light of this development, the Government of Nepal calls upon the Government of India to refrain from carrying out any activity inside the territory of Nepal."
The government has also reiterated commitment to seeking diplomatic solution to boundary issues on the basis of the historical treaty, documents, facts and maps in keeping with the spirit of close and friendly ties between the two countries. "With this in mind, the Government of Nepal has proposed twice the dates for holding the meeting of the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries, as mandated by their leaders, for which the response from the Indian side is still awaited."
It has reminded how Nepal had expressed its disagreement in 2015 through separate diplomatic notes addressed to the governments of both India and China when the two sides agreed to include Lipu Lekh Pass as a bilateral trade route without Nepal’s consent in the Joint Statement issued on 15 May 2015 during the official visit of the Prime Minister of India to China.
It has pointed at the consensus report prepared by the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) on Nepal-India Relations with a mandate to recommend measures and institutional framework with a view to elevating the existing relations to a new height, and called for mplementation of its recommendations. "The Government of Nepal is ready to receive the report and believes that it will be in the interest of the two countries to implement its recommendations which will also help address the outstanding issues left by the history, thereby paving the way for ever stronger neighborly relations."
Inauguration of the Indian road via Lipu Lekh on Friday has been widely criticized in the country.
The issue of Indian encroachment of Nepali land came to the fore when India issued its new political map in November 2019 including Nepali land of Kalapani, Lipu Lekh and Limpiyadhura. The inclusion of Lipu Lekh and Kalapani of Nepal in the new political map published by India was widely condemned with the ruling and opposition parties alike protesting the Indian act.
The government claims Sugauli Treaty clearly states that Limpiyadhura is the source of Mahakali and hence belongs to Nepal. It also cites the historic evidence pointing that Nepal conducted a census in Kalapani area in 2018 BS and has historical evidence proving Nepal collected tax from the surrounding areas in the past.
The Indian government, meanwhile, claims that the new map does not change the Indian borders with Nepal in any way and accurately depicts the sovereign territory of India.
