Nepal Houses okay map amendment

NEW DELHI: The upper house of Nepal’s parliament on Thursday passed a constitutional amendment to give legal backing to a new map that depicts the Kalapani region as Nepalese territory, a move that could exacerbate a border row with India.

All 57 voting members of the 59-member National Assembly or upper house voted to endorse the new political map issued last month showing the disputed areas of Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as part of Nepal.

The amendment was passed by 258 votes in the House of Representatives, or lower house, on April 13. Its passage in the upper house was considered a formality as the ruling Nepal Communist Party has a majority, unlike in the lower house. However, even the lower house passed the bill by a two-thirds after it was backed by key opposition parties such as the Nepali Congress and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party. Later, the bill was approved by President Bidya Devi Bhandari.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava told a media briefing in New Delhi that India had made its position clear on June 13, when an official statement said the “artificial enlargement” of territorial claims by Nepal wasn’t based on historical fact and wasn’t tenable. “We have already made our position clear on this.”

On Monday, the Indian side said the onus is on the KP Sharma Oli government in Nepal to create a “positive and conducive atmosphere” for talks to resolve the row over the Kalapani-lipulekh region. India has repeatedly conveyed its readiness to discuss the issue, with the latest offer for talks between foreign secretaries of the two sides made around the time Nepal tabled the constitutional amendment in Parliament on May 31, people familiar with developments said.

The boundary row with Nepal has flared up at an inopportune time for India, which is engaged in a tense border stand-off with China along the LAC. A violent face-off between Indian and Chinese troops on Monday night left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead.