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India’s Ministry of External affairs reacted strongly to the map produced by Government of Nepal, the official spokesperson of MEA, Government of India, Anurag Srivastava stated that this unilateral action by Nepal is not based on historical facts and evidences.
New Delhi: The Indo Nepal relations are currently seeing the lowest level. This came as an outcome of the Himalayan country’s decision to release a controversial map. It showed several territories that belongs to India, as its own. India rejected this new map on Wednesday May 20th, 2020. India requested Nepal to respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Anurag Srivastava, the official spokesman of Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, reacted strongly to this new map. He stated that this unilateral action of Nepal is not based on historical facts and evidences. India reiterated that these disputes should be mutually resolved with dialogues between the two nations.
It is now a burning question as to why the thousands of years old friendly tradition and relation between these two countries has come to this phase? Nepal is the only country in the world that once claimed to be the only Hindu nation in the world and it is also the land of Gautam Buddha.
Nepal’s new political map has claimed three Indian important areas which are in the state of Uttarakhand. These are Lipulekh, Kalapani and LimpiaDhura.
The Nepalese Prime Minister, K P Sharma Oli said that Nepal has the right over these three areas and he will take them back at any cost. It includes making India angry. He said, while addressing the Nepalese Parliament that India is to be blamed for the spread of novel corona virus in his country and claimed that this deadly virus from India is more dangerous than the virus from China or Italy.
Nepal appears to be at the command of China while doing all this. It has put at stake the thousands of years old friendly relations with India. A Chinese government news channel CGTN claimed Mount Everest as its own on May 2nd but Nepal remained silent on this issue, though Nepal claims Mount Everest as a crown on its head.
Nepal objected to India’s inaugurating a road linking the Lipulekh pass to the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra route near the Nepal border in Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand, on May 8th. Nepal claimed that India has built this road on its territory.
The India Nepal border is about 1690 kms long. There was no border dispute between these two countries. But Kalapani and Lipulekh seem to be spoiling this relation now.
The new road built by India will save a lot of time for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. It is from Pithoragarh to Lipulekh. Previously the pilgrims had to walk 80 kms on adifficult route to reach Lipulekh. It took around 5 days. But this new route will allow the pilgrims to travel by vehicles for 74.6 kms and the rest of the path can be covered on foot.
“The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, which used to be completed in two to three weeks, can now be completed in just one week. There are two other routes to visit Kailash Mansarovar: the first goes through Sikkim’s Nathula Pass while the other passes through Nepal’s capital city Kathmandu. Both these routes are much longer than the Pithoragarh route.”
The 85% of this new route passes through Pithoragarh In Indian territory. The other two routes for Kailash Mansarovar yatra have 80 to 85% area in the Chinese region. The travellers have to take visa from China as china considers Tibet as its own territory.
Lipulekh connects Pithoragarh, India with Tibet. Trade continues through this route for ages, between India and Tibet. Noe the objection raised by Nepal has raised several questions on this issue. Surprisingly, India has been working on this road since 2008, but Nepal never objected to this project in the past 12 years. China too did not object to it when the Indian cabinet in 2018, gave its nod to complete the project in two years.
The British made Mahakali river as the base between Nepal and India border. Nepal believes that its boundary starts from the first waterfall in the mountains, instead of the river. India will lose 5 kms area to Nepal if this claim of Nepal is accepted. It covers about 32 sq kms beside a large part of Lipulekh Pass.
The British attacked Nepal in the 19th century several times. They reached an agreement which wa known as Sugauli accord. Nepal had to give up its claim on the Indian territories which it had under its possession, according to this agreement.
Nepali Army helped the Britishers at the time of 1857 war of Independence. Britain returned a lot of land to Nepal as a return gift. It included the areas of Tarai region. It included Janakpur and Kapilvastu. Indo-Nepal boundaries were re-determined in 1865. After a silence of so many years, Nepal’s recent move appears to be at the behest of China.
Indian army was stationed at Lipulekh Pass for so may years and Nepal has never objected to it. Now China appears to be provoking Nepal. Indian Army Chief Manoj Narwane, however, recently indicated at this possible development.
There is an ongoing political battle in Nepal. It is understood to be the core reason behind the Prime Minister Oli’s remarks against India. The later seems to retain his chair of power with the help of China.
