By Our Reporter
Keeping mum for two weeks after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi revealed that India was building the road in Nepali territory of Lipulek, the government of Nepal finally protested against the act.
After the CPN-UML, two general secretaries of the ruling Nepali Congress and the Maoist Centre issued statements condemning the road construction in Lipulek, the government on Sunday urged the Indian government to stop construction and expansion of any kind of unilateral road passing through the Nepali territory in the east of the Mahakali River, including Limpiyadhura, Lipulek, and Kalapani.
Stating that Limpiyadhura, Lipulek, and Kalapani are integral parts of Nepal, Minister for Communication and Information Technology Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that the government was committed to resolving the border issues between the two countries through diplomatic channels.
During a regular press meet organised to make the Cabinet decisions public, Minister Karki, who is also the government spokesperson, made public the formal views of the government of Nepal on the road construction by India in Nepali territory and said that the government of Nepal was committed to solving the problem through the political channel on the basis of historical evidence, treaties, facts, and maps.
However, the government has not yet sent any diplomatic note to India, nor had Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba called his Indian counterpart regarding the road being constructed by India. A few in Kathmandu argue that the government of Nepal protested the road construction only for formality.
Interestingly, the government made its view public on the encroachment of Nepali territory by India, a day after a spokesperson of the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu issued a two-point statement mentioning India’s position on the border issues.
In the statement, the Indian Embassy spokesperson had said that mutually agreed boundary issues could be addressed in the spirit of our close and friendly bilateral relations while the Nepali side has been demanding that the border issues should be solved on the basis of historical evidence including the Sugauli Treaty.
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