India has claimed that the road it constructed to Mansarovar of China lies within the Indian territory.
"The recently inaugurated road section in Pithoragarh district in the State of Uttarakhand lies completely within the territory of India. The road follows the pre-existing route used by the pilgrims of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. Under the present project, the same road has been made pliable for the ease and convenience of pilgrims, locals and traders," Official Spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said Saturday responding to queries on inauguration of the road on Friday.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier on the day had expressed regret over India constructing road to Mansarovar through Lipu Lekh.
"The boundary delineation exercise with Nepal is ongoing. India is committed to resolving outstanding boundary issues through diplomatic dialogue and in the spirit of our close and friendly bilateral relations with Nepal," Srivastava stated.
He pointed that India and Nepal have established mechanism to deal with all boundary matters. "Both sides are also in the process of scheduling foreign secretary level talks which will be held once the dates are finalized between the two sides after the two societies and governments have successfully dealt with the challenge of COVID-19 emergency," he added.
But India has not showed interest to hold the foreign secretary level talks despite Nepal twice proposing the dates for holding the meeting.
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.
Nepal had also 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.
