The Balen government of Nepal has expressed strong objection to the route of Mansarovar Yatra. With this, the Lipulekh dispute between India and Nepal has again come into limelight. India and China have agreed to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra via Lipulekh Pass. The Balen government says that this visit cannot be organized without the consent of Kathmandu, because Lipulekh is a part of Nepal.
Regarding this, the Nepal government has sent a diplomatic note to India as well as China. India has already been rejecting Nepal’s claim. China has also not taken any steps towards accepting Nepal’s situation. Analysts believe that Nepal took such steps on the Lipulekh controversy in the last few years, due to which the matter kept worsening.
what is the controversy
The root of the dispute is the tri-junction of Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani, which is part of India and is also controlled by India. Nepal claims this area as its own and cites the Sugauli Treaty of 1816. Nepal says that neither India nor China can trade or travel through Lipulekh without its consent.
India had started resolving the dispute
PM Modi was ready to talk about this during his initial tenure, hence he also visited Nepal in the year 2014. During that time, the foreign secretaries of both the countries were entrusted with the responsibility of talks. However, later such circumstances arose due to which not a single meeting could be held. In May 2020, Nepal’s Oli government took such a step that the situation worsened.
Oli government made a blunder
The Oli government released a map showing these three areas within the borders of Nepal and the Parliament also approved this map. After this, in June 2020, Nepal amended its constitution, so that the map can be included in the national emblem. India strongly opposed this. Nepal’s then Foreign Minister Pradiya Gyawali said while talking to Kathmandu Post that India had asked Nepal not to include the territorial dispute in the constitution. In return, political level talks were proposed but the Oli government did not agree and the amendment was passed with an overwhelming majority.
China’s side
China is also a party in this entire dispute and Nepal’s experience with it is also not good. Kathmandu has repeatedly requested since 2015 not to allow trade or transit through Lipulekh, but Beijing is doing just that. Last year, when Prime Minister Oli went to China, he raised this issue during his meeting with Xi Jinping in Tianjin, but Xi clearly said that Nepal should resolve this issue with India.
Statement of former Nepali diplomat
Former Nepalese diplomat Shambhu Ram Simkhada while talking to Kathmandu Post said that we will meet the Prime Minister of India. Narendra Modi Failed to understand the political wisdom of those who can play an important role in solving this. He said that as Indian politics is becoming more right-wing, Nepal will have to understand this ground reality.
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