Nepalese leaders urge PM Oli to resolve Kalapani border issue with India through diplomatic channel

Senior Nepalese political leaders on Saturday urged Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli to resolve the border issue of Kalapani area with India through diplomatic channels, a week after New Delhi issued new political maps reportedly showing the region as part of its territory. India last week released fresh maps of the newly created Union Territories (UTs) of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and the map of India depicting these UTs.

In the maps, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is part of the newly created Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, while Gilgit-Baltistan is in the Union Territory of Ladakh. The Nepal government has said the media reports drew its attention to the Kalapani area being included in the new Indian map.

The senior leaders, which also included former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai, said that Oli should take up the matter with his Indian counterpart Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seek to resolve the matter by forming a political commission. "The border dispute should be resolved through the diplomatic initiative. The Prime Minister should approach his Indian counterpart and seek to resolve the matter by forming a political commission. The issue should be resolved on the basis of historical documents," Bhattarai said.

Following protests by Nepal over the maps, India on Thursday said that the new map issued by it last week accurately depicts its sovereign territory and it has in no manner revised its boundary with Nepal.

"Our map accurately depicts the sovereign territory of India. The new map has in no manner revised our boundary with Nepal," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said at a media briefing. The issue triggered protests in Nepal, compelling Prime Minister Oli to call for an all-party meeting to forge a common stand of all sides on the issue of national importance.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and President of Rashtriya Prajatantra Party Kamal Thapa said Oli should take initiatives to remove Indian army camp from the Kalapani area.