Nepal PM on Kalapani dispute: 'Would ask India to withdraw its forces'

After India included Kalapani territory in its new map, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said that he would ask India to withdraw its forces from the disputed region, asserting that his government won’t allow anyone to encroach “even an inch”. KP Sharma Oli reacted to fresh maps released by India that showed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as a part of the newly created Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan as a part of Union Territory of Ladakh.

“Our patriotic government will not allow anybody to encroach on even an inch of Nepal’s territory. Neighbouring country India should withdraw its security forces from the Kalapani area,” read a press release issued by the Oli’s private secretariat.

Nepal PM claims support from all corner

Nepal’s Prime Minister recalled that he had suggested India correct the map and added that it would be better to “take back the land” rather than “correcting the map”. He said he would take initiative to ensure the Indian troops vacate the disputed region. Addressing a programme organised by the National Youth Organisation, a sister wing of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), Oli invoked nationalism and claimed that there is a strong support to the government for national integrity.

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Pressure from opposition parties

Nepali Congress, country’s main opposition party, had successfully mobilised the Nepal Students Union to launch protests in Kathmandu demanding the withdrawal of Indian soldiers from the disputed border area. While Oli emphasised that his government wanted to resolve the Kalapani issue through the proper diplomatic channel, his assertive statement came after pressure from opposition parties and street protests. Oli denied claims that the encroachment was a recent incident calling it a decades-long dispute.

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India on Kalapani dispute

Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said that the map accurately depicts the sovereign territory of India. Reiterating the commitment to find a solution through dialogue in the “spirit of our close and friendly bilateral relations”, Kumar said that the boundary delineation exercise with Nepal is ongoing under the existing mechanism. The Kalapani territory is under Indian administration as part of Pithoragarh district in the Uttarakhand state and marked by the Kalapani river, one of the headwaters of the Kali River in the Himalayas.

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(With Inputs from Agencies)