Artificial Enlargement: India Slams Nepal PM’s Territorial Claims

The announcement of the new political map done by Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Nepal’s Foreign Minister.

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. 

(Photo: @PM_Nepal)

The Ministry of External Affairs of India (MEA) on Wednesday, 20 May slammed the Nepal government’s approval of a new Nepalese map that shows territories contested with India as a part of Nepal.

“Nepal government has released a revised official map of Nepal today that includes parts of Indian territory. This unilateral act is not based on historical facts and evidence. It is contrary to bilateral understanding to resolve outstanding boundary issues through diplomatic dialogue,” a statement by the MEA said.

Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Wednesday asserted that Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura belong to Nepal and vowed to “reclaim” them from India through political and diplomatic efforts, as his Cabinet endorsed a new political map showing the three areas as Nepalese territory, reported PTI.

“Such artificial enlargement of territorial claims will not be accepted by India. Nepal is well aware of India’s consistent position on this matter and we urge Nepal Govt to refrain from such unjustified cartographic assertion and respect India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” India said.

“We hope that the Nepalese leadership will create a positive atmosphere for diplomatic dialogue to resolve the outstanding boundary issues,” the statement said.

“As prime minister of the incumbent government, I want to appraise the honourable house that the issue of Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh, and Kalapani won’t be covered up, a conclusion will be drawn regarding it. We won’t let this issue fade out and it will be sorted out through diplomatic talks making concrete efforts and the territories will be reclaimed.”

KP Sharma Oli, Nepal Prime Minister

The announcement of the new political map was made by Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, Nepal's Foreign Minister, and has come under fire after he had said that efforts were on to resolve the border dispute with India.

The Lipulekh pass is a far western point situated near Kalapani which is a disputed border area between India and Nepal. Both countries claim that Kalapani is a part of their territory. India says it comes under Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district while Nepal says it is a part of their Dharchula district.

Gyawali put out a tweet saying, “Decision of the Council of Ministers to publish the map of Nepal in 7 provinces, 77 districts and 753 local level administrative divisions including Limpiyadhura, Lipulek and Kalapani. The official map is being made public by the Ministry of Land Management soon.”

India, on the other hand, recently inaugurated a road section in Pithoragarh, and has said that the area lies completely in its territory.

The Finance minister and government spokesperson Yuvaraj Khatiwada of Nepal said on Monday, that the Prime Minister, KP Sharma Oli had approved the new map of Nepal.

(With inputs from PTI)