News Analysis
By Our Analyst
The Nepali Congress has issued a formal statement opposing alleged border encroachment in Humla district. Based on the field inspection carried out by the party, NC has alleged China for encroaching Nepali territory. This issue has been lauded by the Nepali Congress alone as other political parties have remained silent. NC, on the base of the report of a study action team under the leadership of Jivan Bahadur Shahi, a central member of the party and opposition leader in the Karnali Province Assembly, has blamed China for encroaching Nepali territory there.
It is very much surprising that why the Foreign Ministry, after such an allegation from the main opposition party, has remained silent.
So far, earlier to the NC statement, Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali had made clear that the government inspection team from different concerned ministries including the survey department had submitted a report to the government that the physical constructions were in the Chinese territory, not in the Nepali territory.
On 23 September, Minister Gyawali, at a press conference, had refuted the media reports about the alleged encroachment of Nepali territory by China in Humla district. Minister Gyawali had said that there is no dispute over territory between Nepal and China.
Minister Gyawali, also the then spokesman of the government, had briefed the media that a report about land encroachment from the Chinese side in Limi village in Humla district had surfaced four years ago as well. The government had then formed a probe committee to see if the news was true.
Minister Gyawali said the probe committee comprising officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Land Reform had later shown that the Chinese side had constructed buildings some 1 kilometer away from the Nepal-China border. New buildings were constructed by Chinese authorities for their border security personnel in the same area now.
Issuing a separate press statement on 22 September, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Department of Survey, Government of Nepal, based on the official records, reports of the joint field inspection and boundary maps, has verified and confirmed that the said buildings are not located within the Nepali territory.
“It may be recalled that the matter of buildings in question also surfaced in some media in 2016. An inter-ministerial team after the field inspection had concluded that the said buildings were located approximately one kilometer inside the Chinese territory from the Nepal-China border,” said the statement.
The MoFA in the statement further said the boundary between Nepal and China was delineated and demarcated based on the Boundary Treaty and Boundary Protocols signed between the two countries. “Nepal and China have always maintained close communication on border matters,” it said.
Foreign hands?:
According to some security sources, they see foreign hands in lauding against China on the allegation of encroaching Nepali territory. Some people seem to be mobilized by some foreign agents to organize frequent demonstrations and chant slogan against China with the plan of defaming China, the security sources said.
When comes the issue of China, a person with surname Tripathi, who himself claims Siddartha Gautam is found leading a group of demonstrators near the Chinese embassy.
He is the very person who is closed to the Dalai Lama and often organizes the team of parliament members visiting the Dalai Lama in India. On different occasions, he was found using some youths in the present Nepal Samajbadi Party by giving some money received from an embassy. After the escalation of the boundary dispute between India and China, some people have become active in Kathmandu to defame China, said the source.
According to a Nepal Army source, the allegation on encroachment of Nepali territory in Humla District by China is not true. Following the previous boundary agreements between Nepal and China and reports of the survey team, any encroachment by China in Nepali territory has not been found, the NA source claimed.
The so-called inspection team of the Nepali Congress had visited the boundary site for two times by helicopter. Some foreigners might have sponsored the helicopter charter fee, said the source.
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