Constitutional expert Bipin Adhikari said the government decision to issue the new map including Kalapani, Lipu Lekh and Limpiyadhura will get international acceptance.
Adhikari added that any Indian activity in the area will now attract international laws. "The area will be recognized as disputed territory in the international arena if India refuses to acknowledge the territorial claims made by Nepal. India, therefore, will be prohibited from doing any activity there," he elaborated. "The government has informed the people on a national scale. No other government in the future can now say the old map was correct."
He argued that the agreement signed by China and India, and the link road inaugurated by India cannot move forward now. "They can use force, and may use even military force. But even China should step back now after Nepali claims. One cannot buildup military capacity in the disputed territory," he stressed.
He added that the Constitution need not be amended to implement the new map as it was kept only as a symbol and not a map in the Constitution. "We need not amend the Constitution or mention it as a map of Constitution as it was only kept as a symbol and not for the purpose of map in the Constitution," he stated. "This has only been kept as a symbol and I think it is not a big deal."
The government on Monday passed a new map including Kalapani, Lipu Lekh and Limpiyadhura.
The Cabinet meeting at Baluwatar Monday evening took the decision to that regard. Minister for Land Management Padma Aryal had presented the map to the Cabinet.
The government in its policy and programs presented to the House on Friday had pledged to issue a new map including Limpiyadhura.
Inauguration of the Indian road via Lipu Lekh on April 8 has been widely criticized by the ruling and opposition parties alike.
The Foreign Ministry has already expressed regret over the unilateral construction and urged India to refrain from carrying out any activity inside the territory of Nepal. It then summoned the Indian Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra and handed a diplomatic note conveying Nepal's position on the issue.
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.
