Deliberation on the amendment bill to change the map of Nepal in the coat of arms in the Constitution to implement the new map has started in the House of Representatives (HoR) on Tuesday.
Speaker Agni Sapkota informed the House that general discussion on the bill has been started. The lawmakers can speak on the principles of the bill and have been allotted three minutes each.
Law Minister Shiva Maya Tungbahamphe had presented the bill to the House on May 31. The bill was then published in the Nepal Gazette for information of the people. The parliament secretariat also published it in Gorkhapatra daily.
The government had presented the bill a day after the Nepali Congress (NC) central committee meeting decided to instruct the parliamentary party to vote in support of the amendment bill to change the coat of arms in accordance to the new map including Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipu Lekh issue.
The parliament secretariat had included the issue in the proposed schedule prepared for March 27 but the issue was removed from the business schedule just before start of the meeting that day.
Some CPN leaders said the issue was removed from the House schedule pointing that demanded time to the chagrin of NC leaders who pointed that the party's office-bearers had already decided to support the amendment bill and would convene central committee meeting to formalize the decision.
The government has registered the Constitution amendment bill to amend the schedule of the Constitution, wherein the map in the coat of arms does not include the territory including Limpiyadhura, to implement the new map.
Constitution amendment requires two-third majority of the House. The ruling CPN is just short of two-third majority and with the main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) now institutionally deciding to support the amendment getting two-third majority will not be a problem. NC has 63 seats in the House of Representatives.
Madhes-based parties, Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJP) and Socialist Party Nepal, have been saying the government should also include their demands for Constitution amendment while amending it for implementation of the new map. NC has also registered a separate amendment bill to address the demands of Madhes-based parties but its leaders claim that its support for the government's bill to implement the new map will not be subject to the government's support for the NC's bill.
The government on May 20 published the new map including Kalapani, Lipu Lekh and Limpiyadhura. The territorial area of Nepal has increased by 335 square kilometers with inclusion of the territory up to Limpyadhura.
The government on May 18 passed the new map including Kalapani, Lipu Lekh and Limpiyadhura after inauguration of the Indian road via Lipu Lekh on May 8.
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.
