Nepal: It is also worth noting here that during KP Sharma Oli’s tenure for two years, the Nepal government had issued a disputed map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as its territory. To which India had strongly objected.
Nepal’s former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has glared at the fact that if his party returns to power in the November 20 parliamentary elections, it will regain the Himalayan territories claimed by India. Oli said this while inaugurating his party’s nationwide election campaign in Darchula district in far-west Nepal near the Nepal-India border. It is also worth noting here that during Oli’s tenure for two years, the Nepal government had issued a disputed map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as its territory. To which India had strongly objected.
Oli’s Controversial Remark
Parliamentary elections are going to be held in Nepal on the 20th. The election campaign has reached its peak. KP Sharma Oli, former prime minister and leader of the Communist Party of Nepal, participated in the election campaign in Darchula District in the western part of Nepal. He said, “If our party wins this election and comes to power, we will recover and bring back our Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura areas occupied by India in the Himalayas. Our party is committed to protecting the country. We will not give up even an inch of land of our nation.”
Statement of the Nepal PM
Meanwhile, Nepali Congress President and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said that efforts are on to bring back Nepal’s encroached lands on the basis of diplomatic initiatives and mutual relations. Deuba made the remarks while launching his election campaign in his home district of Dadeldhura in far west Nepal. His statement came after Oli’s remarks. Addressing the election campaign, Deuba said the issues of Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura and other areas would be resolved through diplomatic initiatives. However, former Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has asked Oli not to make national integrity an agenda for elections. Dr. Baburam Bhattaria tweeted, “No one should use the issue of national unity for an election. No party or person should use the border areas of the country for electoral gain.”
India-Nepal Dispute
India-Nepal relations have long been cordial. But after Sharma Oli became the Prime Minister of Nepal, there was a slight crack in the relationship between the two countries. Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the road between Libulek and Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8, 2020. Since then, the Nepalese government has been claiming the areas of Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as their own and accusing India of occupying them.
Not only that, the Nepalese government hastily published a map after this incident, showing the areas of Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura within their country’s borders. India strongly opposed this and said that Nepal should not publish any map arbitrarily and cannot accept the artificial occupation of the territory.
