New Delhi: Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday, April 2, called for resolving the boundary dispute with India through bilateral mechanisms even as the latter asserted that both sides already reached an “understanding” that the border issue should not be politicised.
In terms of significance, Deuba’s visit is the first visit to India by a Nepali prime minister in three years.
Deuba became the prime minister for the fifth time in July last year after the Supreme Court ordered the restoration of the parliament and the appointment of the Nepali Congress leader to the highest executive post. The visit to India is his first foreign trip since taking office.
Held fruitful discussions with PM @SherBDeuba, who has always played a key role in boosting the India-Nepal friendship. We took stock of the full range of bilateral relations including important development projects that will deepen economic as well as cultural linkages. pic.twitter.com/CXIYQ9fbm3
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 2, 2022
It is also the first visit by a Nepali prime minister to New Delhi after relations nose-dived over the boundary issue under the previous administration led by K.P. Oli.
Following formal discussions, Deuba announced at a joint press appearance with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the matter was taken up. “We discussed the boundary matters, and I urged him to resolve them through established mechanisms,” he said.
The Indian leader did not refer to the dispute but only mentioned the porous land border in terms of connectivity and security. “We also discussed today the issue of open borders of India and Nepal being misused by unwanted elements. We also stressed on maintaining close cooperation between our defense and security institutions,” stated Modi.
Later at a media briefing, India’s foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla played down the issue, stating that the border issue was “briefly discussed”.
“There was a general understanding that both sides needed to address this in a responsible manner through discussion and dialogue in the spirit of our close and friendly relations, and the politicisation of such issues need to be avoided,” he said.
The foreign secretary cited the resolution of maritime and land boundary issues between India and Bangladesh to emphasise that the matter with Nepal will also be sorted out amicably.
“You have seen that we have sorted out the land as well as maritime boundary issue with Bangladesh and it was sorted out in a very amicable manner. We had a mechanism for it,” he said.
Shringla said India has several mechanisms with Nepal to discuss bilateral issues.
“The two sides had a brief discussion and generally felt that in order to start addressing the issue, we need to have dialogue and discussion in a responsible manner, and that’s something we will engage in,” he said.
“And we have no doubt that between the two close and friendly countries, we will find a way,” he said.
There was no further comment from the Nepali side.
In November 2019, Nepal had objected to the inclusion of Kalapani in a political map released by India. Next year, Nepal protested against India constructing a road to Lipulekh. After that, the Oli government published a new map of the country, including the Kalapani region within its borders.
In June 2020, the Nepal parliament amended the constitution to include the disputed region in the map of the country depicted in the national coat of arms. The bill had been supported unanimously by all political parties, including Nepali Congress.
Ahead of his India visit, The Kathmandu Post had reported that the ruling coalition members had urged Deuba to take up the boundary issue.
At a meeting of the ruling coalition on Thursday, on the eve of his Delhi visit, leaders asked Deuba to raise the boundary issue, according to a participant.
After their talks on Saturday, the two leaders inaugurated a cross-border railway network, a power transmission line, and India’s RuPay payment card in Nepal. Officials from the two sides also inked four pacts to expand cooperation in areas of railways and energy while vowing to further broad-base collaboration in a range of areas.
In his media statement, Modi said the joint vision statement between the two sides on power cooperation would prove to be a blueprint for future cooperation in the sector.
(With PTI inputs)