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Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 9
A controversy has arisen in Nepal after Defense Minister Rajnath Singh announced that India had completed a road that would provide a smooth ride for pilgrims headed to Kailash Mansarovar.
Reacting to the development, Nepal Foreign Ministry expressed “regret” and maintained that all territories east of Kali River, including Lipu Lekh, where India had constructed the road, “belongs to Nepal”.
“This unilateral act runs against the understanding reached between the two Prime Ministers that a solution to boundary issues will be sought through negotiations,” it said in a statement.
The problem is that both India and China consider Lipu Lekh as a trijunction whereas Nepal claims that it has sovereignty over the territory. Two other sectors – Kalapani and Limpiyadhura – are also involved in a similar controversy that has been underplayed by both Nepal and India.
The Border Roads Organization (BRO) had completed work on the Ghatiabgarh-Lipulekh road on April 17 so that the three-day trek to the pass can be reduced to a two-day drive from Delhi.
The inauguration of the black-topping on the road was done by Rajnath Singh via video conferencing.
A similar controversy had erupted in November when India included Kalapani in its territory in a new political map after which Nepal government had formed two committees which are yet to conduct field visits and prepare a status report on the dispute.
To assuage public sentiments, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had promised to reclaim the disputed land but no talks had been held with the government on the issue.
After the Lipu Lekh controversy emerged, Nepalese Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi, reportedly, spoke to Indian envoy Vinay Mohan Kwatra to reiterate Nepal’s concern and its position on the dispute.
The Lipulekh Controversy
Lipulekh is a strip of land in north-western Nepal, lodged between Nepal, India and China. While India and China consider it a tri-junction with Nepal, Kathmandu lays claim on the southern part of the pass and refuses to recognize it as a tri-junction.
Interestingly, this is a controversy in which China is also a participant since it had signed an agreement with India to expand border trade via Lipulekh besides other border points. Beijing had recently played the peace-maker in a conflict that had emerged at the highest levels of the ruling Nepal Communist Party.
Critics say Nepal was late in reacting to the India-China agreement of 2015 and had protested only after it became a fait accompli. Nepal had protested against the May 2015 agreement by separate diplomatic notes to both India and China.
The road also helps India’s border security apparatus since an Indian security post on the Indo-China border will now be connected with the rest of the country.
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