'India-Nepal territorial dispute can only be solved through dialogue': Nepal Foreign Min

Amid the row over the territorial dispute with Nepal claiming the bordering regions governed by India as their own, Nepal's Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said on Thursday spoke in favour of having a dialogue with India to resolve the territorial dispute between the two countries.

Gyawali in an interview with state-owned Nepal Television said that the territorial dispute between Nepal and India can only be solved through dialogue.

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India and Nepal are scheduled to hold a review mechanism dialogue on August 17 to take stock of the progress of the ongoing projects in Nepal, sources had said on Wednesday. Indian Ambassador to Nepal Vinay Mohan Kwatra and Nepal's Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi will participate in the discussion according to sources.

The scheduled meeting between Kwatra and the Nepalese foreign secretary under an oversight mechanism is part of regular interaction between India and Nepal, as per sources, however, it holds significance since it will be the first meeting after the deterioration of ties between the two nations following the issuance of a new map by the Nepal government incorporating parts of Indian territory.

Ties between the two countries came under strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated an 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8. Nepal protested the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through its territory. Days later, Nepal came out with the new map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura, which are governed by India, as its own territories.

India had said that the updated map is "not based on historical facts and evidence" and termed the claims by Nepal as artificial enlargement. India said Nepal's action violates an understanding reached between the two countries to resolve the boundary issues through talks.

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