Why in news?
- Nepal’s new official map is “artificial” and unacceptable to India, the Ministry of External Affairs said on 20th May 2020 after Kathmandu unveiled a new political map that claimed Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh of Uttarakhand as part of its sovereign territory.
- Nepal Releasing the new map escalates the row over territorial claims between the two South Asian neighbours.
What the MEA of India said about the Map?
- This unilateral act is not based on historical facts and evidence. It is contrary to the bilateral understanding to resolve the outstanding boundary issues through diplomatic dialogue.
- Such artificial enlargement of territorial claims will not be accepted by India.
- India said Nepal was aware of the understanding on this issue and urged the Nepali Government to return to dialogue.
- India had published a new map on November 2, 2019, representing the political boundaries of the country which showed the status of the newly created Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The same map also showed the region of Kalapani as part of the Indian territory.
What has Nepal claimed?
- Nepali diplomatic sources maintain the region of Kalapani and the contiguous areas to the east of the river Kali and Susta on the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border are the only parts of the nearly 1,800-km India-Nepal boundary that remain unresolved.
- Kathmandu claims that India has encroached upon the area of Susta near Gorakhpur, claiming tracts of land, and wants Delhi to evacuate population from the location.
- Nepal, however, maintains that not just the Kalapani region, but Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh are parts of its territory as demarcated in the 1816 Treaty of Sugauli. All three areas are to the east of the river Kali, according to the Nepali formulation.
- Nepal had also expressed displeasure that the 2015 agreement between India and China for using the Lipulekh pass for trade was reached without consulting it.
Click Here to read more about the Kalapani Region
-Source: The Hindu
