Nepal To Talk With India On Kalapani Issue

Kathmandu, Nov. 12: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli said on Monday that the government had started homework to prepare a formal proposal for the bilateral talks with India regarding the Kalapani dispute.
Prime Minister Oli said this while briefing a secretariat meeting of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) about the situation after the Kalapani dispute erupted, and the efforts being made by the government to resolve it.
The meeting held this morning.
“Prime Minister Oli informed the party secretariat meeting that the government was doing homework to prepare an official proposal for the bilateral meeting between the two nations on the Kalapani disputes,” said NCP spokesperson Narayan Kaji Shrestha after the meeting.
The Prime Minister said that the government would initiate talks with India through appropriate diplomatic channels after preparing formal proposal incorporating all authentic evidences.
Spokesperson Shrestha said that the NCP had taken the territorial dispute seriously and had drawn the attention on it through Indian ambassador to Nepal.
The NCP also finalised the leadership in different three commissions of the party.
According to Shrestha, Amrit Kumar Bohora has been named as the chairman of Central Discipline Commission while Ashok Rokaya as secretary in the commission.
Similarly, Bishnu Kumar Shrestha and Madhav Paudel have been designated as chairman and secretary in the central election commission of the party respectively.
Likewise, Pushpa Kandel and Teknath Acharya have been given the responsibility of chairman and secretary of Auditing Commission respectively.
Keshav Badal and Nanda Kumar Thapa have been selected as chairman and secretary of party’s central advisory committee.
Similarly, Nanda Kumar Prasain and Govinda Gyawali have got the responsibility of president and secretary in Senior Communist Forum.
Meamwhile, The State Affairs and Good Governance Committee of the Federal Parliament on Monday directed the government to resolve the issue of Kalapani border with India through the high-level diplomatic and political channels.
After holding discussions with the two ministers, the committee instructed the government to make diplomatic and political approaches to resolve the issue of growing border disputes.
The committee has also directed the government to deploy security forces by building barracks in the border areas, including Kalapani, for border security.
The directive of the parliamentary committee came in nine days after India unveiled a new political map, placing the territory of Nepal inside the Indian border.
During the meeting of the committee, the parliamentarians expressed their concerns over the growing encroachment upon the Nepali territories in various places by India.
Although the committee had invited Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to attend the meeting, he did not attend it.
“Accepting the geographical and historical facts that Limpiyadhura, the source of Mahakali River, and the territory eastward the river are Nepali territory, the government of Nepal should make an immediate high-level political and diplomatic approaches to maintain the sovereignty of Nepal on its territory,” instructed the committee.
The committee further directed the government to submit the report prepared by the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) formed by the two nations to review all the past treaties and agreements reached between Nepal and India, to the concerned party.
It has also asked the government to implement the report.
The lawmakers also expressed their concerns over the incorrect map of Nepal being used in academic materials and urged for immediate correction in the map.
During the meeting, the parliamentarians also pointed out that the map used in the emblem printed in the Appendix of the Constitution was also incorrect and asked to keep official Nepali map.
On the occasion, Committee chair Sashi Shrestha asked to reach a national political consensus before holding talks with the Indian government over border encroachment in various places, including Kalapani.
She asked the government, political parties, social organisations and general public to get united in the matter of border encroachment.
The committee urged both Nepal and India to abide by the principle of Panchasheel and the UN Charter.
The committee has further asked the government to allocate enough budget for the Khalanga-Tingkar road in Darchula to make the pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar easier.
During the meeting, Pushpa Kamal Dahal

‘Prachanda’, chairperson of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and the member of the state affair committee stressed on the need for resolving the issue of border dispute through political channel.
Since the effort has been made to resolve the issue through the political and diplomatic channel, internationalising the issue wouldn’t be beneficial, said Prachanda.
“ The directives prepared by the committee also mentioned that if the issue is not be resolved through the political and diplomatic channels, then the matter will be internationalised,” said Prachanda.
Nepal is clear about the issues of nationality, integration and sovereignty, said Prachanda, adding, “Neither will we take an inch of other’s territory, nor we will allow others to take an inch of our land.”
There was no evidence to prove that any former king of Nepal had allowed the Indian Army to enter in the territory of Kalapani and Lipu Lek, said Prachanda.
“The historical facts and evidences have proved that Kalapani is the land of Nepal. The Sugauli Treaty has clearly mentioned that Mahakali is the border of Nepal and India. And it is also clear that Limpiyadhura is the source of the Mahakali River. Therefore, the eastern territory of Limpiyadhura is Nepal and western is of India.”
During the meeting Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa said the problem had aroused due to the open border with India.
The administrative decision would be made after building political consensus on security issue, he added.
Likewise, Minister for Land Management and Cooperatives Padma Kumari Aryal said unveiling the political map placing the disputed land in the territory of India was highhandedness of India.
Majority of the parliamentarians suggested resolving the issue with political and diplomatic approaches.
Meanwhile, Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has clarified that the new political map made public by India was not acceptable to Nepal.
Speaking at the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives on Monday, Minister Gyawali said that the government was ready for taking diplomatic initiative on the issue.
“I will immediately take an initiative to resolve the problem by keeping in touch with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India,” Gyawali told the meeting of the committee.
If needed, high level political dialogue from the Prime Minister level could also begin, he added.
Stating that the government has received mandate from all political parties to hold diplomatic talks with India on the issue, he informed that the government had already started keeping contact with the Indian authorities using the diplomatic channels.
He further said that all the territories of Kalapani are the integral parts of Nepal, and the unilateral decisions could not be accepted.
Historical facts, evidences and maps also proved that Kalapani is Nepali territory, he said, adding that both sides had agreed to resolve the dispute regarding Kalapani and Susta through the secretary level mechanism.
“But no meeting of the mechanism was called and the unilateral decision was made, Nepal will not accept this,” he said.

**taken by The Rising Nepal