Kathmandu, June 12: India has given continuity to the construction of a road to Mansarovar, a religious site in Tibet, via Lipulek, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura in Nepal, but Nepal has remained silent.

On Friday, 13 months after inaugurating the ‘single lane’ road from New Delhi to Mansarovar via Nepali territory through video conferencing, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh praised the Indian Army for its steady progress. Despite Nepal’s disagreement with India’s construction of roads on Nepali soil, the Nepali government has remained silent lately.

On Friday, Singh lauded the Border Roads Organization (BRO), a security body that builds roads in the border area, for building a new road for the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage. It has been proved false that the Nepali government has been saying that India will not do any activity in the area as it is Nepali land.

It was Singh who started the construction of this road from Delhi on 8 April 2020. Addressing the BRO from New Delhi on Friday, he said, “The BRO has made remarkable achievements in the last five to seven years. Whether it’s the launch of a new world-class construction like the ‘Atal Tunnel Rohata or the construction of a new route for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, the BRO has set a new record. ‘

Nepal had sent a 35-member security team of the Armed Police Force (APF) to Chhangru on April 11, after India flooded Nepali roads.

On September 25, the then Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa reached Chhangru and laid the foundation stone of the Gulm Bhawan, in which a team of 50 people was deployed. According to the Armed Police Force, the APF, which is in charge of border security, is located about 7 km from the border area.

After India built the road on Nepali land without Nepal’s knowledge, the then Foreign Minister Pradip Kumar Gyawali had informed the International Relations Committee of the Parliament that “India had encroached on the land. “India has built a road in 19 kilometers of Nepal,” Gyawali said. The day after Singh inaugurated the road, the foreign ministry issued a statement urging India not to operate on the land immediately. According to the Sugauli Treaty of 1816, Limpiyadhura, Lipulek and Kalapani were Nepal’s lands. On the same day, India, through the Ministry of External Affairs, responded by saying that “the road has been built on its own soil and if there are any problems, talks can be held after the corona virus infection.”

Nepal had sent five diplomatic notes to India to resolve the border issue after it became public that India had built roads on Nepal’s territory.

After India said that talks could be held only after the end of the covid-19 transition, Nepal had also issued a new map , including its territory including Limpiyadhura. India immediately responded by saying that the new map of Nepal was unacceptable. However, after the new map was released, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was widely praised as a nationalist leader.

As Nepal’s internal political dispute escalates, the issue has calmed down after Indian Intelligence Agency (RAW) chief Samant Kumar Goyal met Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in Baluwatar on October 21, 2020. Shortly after Goyal’s visit, Indian Army Chief Manoj Mukunda Narwane visited Nepal.
Shortly afterwards, Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Bardhan Shringala visited Nepal on December 12 and 13. Officials from both countries said there was no discussion about the Kalapani area on that occasion.

Former Foreign Minister Narayan Kali Shrestha has said that the Oli government has diverted itself from all positions of national independence and integrity and is pursuing power interests.
Last time, the Oli government did not want to talk about the “Chuchche” map and the encroached role of the Kalapani region.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Seva Lamsa said she would only comment on the matter if she understood it.