The Kalapani Issue

-
The controversy over the control of Kalapani area at the tri-junction of India, Nepal and China in the Himalayan region of Pithoragarh district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand has once again come alive after New Delhi issued a revised map following the constitution of two new Union Territories, bifurcating the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Nepal claims as its own, a part of Kalapani and its adjoining areas, shown in the map as Indian Territory.

Kalapani controversy dates back to the historic Sagauli Treaty of 1816 between the King of Nepal and the then British India. The Treaty defines the Mahakali River as the boundary between the two countries, without indicating its place of origin or which of its tributaries was the main Mahakali River. But the Territorial maps issued by the Surveyor General of British India later clearly defined Kalapani, Lipu Lekh and Limpiyadhura areas as Indian territory while Nepal has been claiming sovereignty over these areas, disputing the origin of Mahakali River. Nepal claims Kalapani is an unresolved territory in its far western Dharchula district.

Nepal’s capital Kathmandu witnessed sporadic demonstrations demanding revision of the map issued by India on 2nd November 2019. Nepal’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Nepal firmly believes that Kalapani was a part of its territory. Reacting to it, India’s Ministry of External Affairs, however clarified that the new map issued by New Delhi depicts the sovereign territory of India and in no manner alters the boundary with Nepal.

Nepal Prime Minister K.P Sharma Oli held an all-party meeting which asked the Nepalese government to take effective steps to resolve the issue with India through diplomatic channels. Mr. Oli while asserting that Nepal will not cede even an inch of its territory expressed his government’s commitment to sort out the issue with India through bilateral discussions.

In 2015 also, Nepal raised similar objection over an agreement between India and China during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Beijing to develop Lipu Lekh pass, which is the shortest route to the highly revered Hindu pilgrimage centre Mansarovar. Nepal claims that area as its territory. Nothing much happened at that time and the Indian security forces have continued to control the area.

Both India and Nepal are in favour of resolving the issue in the spirit of their close and friendly relations through dialogue process. New Delhi however has pointed out that boundary delineation is an ongoing exercise through existing mechanism which is trying to find an amicable solution to all such issues. It has also urged Nepal to guard against vested interests trying to create differences between the two friendly neighbours.

Domestic compulsions, ultra nationalism and external interests in Nepal affairs are perhaps compelling Kathmandu to keep the issues with India alive to serve their ends; whereas the leadership in both countries want to resolve all issues amicably through dialogue. In the case of Kalapani issue also, preliminary dialogue process between the two countries is already on. Nepal’s Ambassador to India Nilamber Acharya met Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale in New Delhi and discussed the matter with him. Nepal has also sought Foreign Secretary level discussions over the issue. Nepal government has formed a task force of experts to find out the historical facts about Kalapani.

The Foreign Ministers’ level Nepal India Joint Commission had held its 5th meeting in Kathmandu in August last and discussed the whole gamut of bilateral relations. In fact the growing ties between India and Nepal have touched new heights as last year, the two countries had identified three new areas of cooperation, Raxaul-Kathmandu electrified rail line and developing cooperation in hitherto unexplored areas of waterways and agriculture.

No doubt the Kalapani issue is sensitive to both India and Nepal. However, border survey teams from both the countries are on the job and the issue is expected to be resolved amicably soon.

Script: Rattan Saldi, Political Commentator

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Data Darbar Suicide Attack

-
The deadly attack on the famous Sufi shrine Data Darbar in Lahore on the second day of the holy month of Ramadan that killed 10 and injured more than 25 people is yet another ghastly reminder that Pakistan still shelters terrorist groups that have now come to haunt its own State. The suicide bombing was apparently targeted towards the elite security force that was assigned to guard the Shrine as the inflow of devotees increase during Ramadan. This is not the first time a Sufi Shrine was targeted by terrorists in Pakistan. Many Shrines like Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan, Baba Farid in Pakpattan and Abdullah Shah Ghazi in Karachi were attacked in the past. The Sufi nature of these shrines has made them an easy target of the terrorist groups that consider Sufis to be heretics. The terror organisations within Pakistan such as the Pakistan Taliban, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Hizbul Ahrar (said to be a splinter faction of the local Taliban) that took responsibility for the latest bombings in...
Read more

Military Build-Up In The Persian Gulf

-
In response to the attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week; the US Department of Defence announced that it is sending an additional 1,000 troops to bolster security in the Persian Gulf. This comes amidst the escalating tensions in the region following US decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPoA) in May 2018. The US also re-imposed economic sanctions on Iran and last month ended all waivers for Iranian oil imports. President Donald Trump further decided to impose new sanctions and warned of secondary sanctions on individuals or entities doing business with Iranian industries under sanctions. Iran too had responded with warning other signatories of the JCPoA, especially UK, France and Germany, to do more to ease the impact of sanctions on Iranian economy failing which Tehran will be forced to retract from the deal. This prompted the US to send additional troops including Arlington and a Patriot missile battery. At ...
Read more

Pakistan’s Crippling Financial Crisis

-
As if the turmoil due to terrorism was not enough for Pakistan, it is facing fresh spate of demonstrations against unprecedented inflation that is putting the already crippling economy out of gear. Inflation is expected to rise to double-digitssoon. The major reason for this has been the steep rise in food and energy prices that has had a cascading effect on the process of other commodities. Pakistan’s imports are increasing and Foreign Exchange reserves have fallen to just about $8 billion; this is just enough for meeting payment obligations for two months. The exchange value of the Pakistani Rupee has fallen to 150 to a US dollar.It has been devalued 20 times during the past three years by about 20%. Since Pakistan is importing major part of its fuel requirements and many other commodities of daily consumption; steep inflation has led to almost halving the incomes of the people. This has led to large-scale public unrest in the country. Street protests led by Jamaat-e-Islami in Pesha...
Read more