Nepal’s government, political brass and people have been up in arms against the new political roadmap released by India which places Kalapani, a territory claimed by Nepal, within Indian borders, The Wire reported.
A tussle has ensued between the two countries with both claiming the Kalapani areas falling under their borders.
The Nepalis, who are fuming over India’s claims say that Kalapani is a part of Nepali territory as per the Sagauli Treaty signed between Nepal and the then East India Company.
Over the past two years, there has not been much communication between Kathmandu and New Delhi regarding disputed territories like Kalapani, even though officials from both sides have agreed to sort out border issues, The Kathmandu Post reported.
The Kalapani dispute began in 1962 after India withdrew all its border outposts from the northern belt of Nepal, according to Buddhi Narayan Shrestha, former director-general of the Survey Department.
During Matrika Prasad Koirala’s prime ministership in 1952, Nepal allowed India to station its troops in Kathmandu and on Nepal’s northern border, including Kalapani. India later withdrew from all other posts and stationed its troops on its side of the border of Kalapani. But later, India moved into Nepali territory, making Kalapani a disputed area between Nepal and India, according to Shrestha.
MyRepublica, reported that protests had mounted all over the country over Kaplapani’s inclusion in the Indian Territory. Even then, the coat of arms used by several government offices in Nepal on their official websites appear to conform to the Indian version in this particular regard.
Former deputy director general of DoS Suresh Man Shrestha said that though the department had disseminated the official map of Nepal to all government ministries, many were still using the old map – the one in accordance with India.
Republica has found that the coat of arms used on the Flickr page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) also includes the incorrect map of Nepal. A similar coat of arms is found to have been used by various other government offices on their official websites, including Nepal’s embassies in Australia and Qatar, the government’s ‘official portal’ (www.nepal.gov.np), and the Teachers’ Service Commission among others.
While India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar has said that the map is accurate in its depiction of the sovereign territory of India, Nepalis have taken to the streets and to social media demanding that India correct its stand by trending the hashtag #BackOffIndia.
With both sides not willing to back down from their stance, is India set to form an enemy in Nepal?
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