INDIA - NEPAL BORDER ISSUE

 Kalapani is a region located in the easternmost corner of Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district. It shares a broder on the north with the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and Nepal in the east and south.

The region resembles a slice of cake wedged in between Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani. The area is in India’s control but Nepal claims the region because of historical and cartographic reasons

The area is the largest territorial dispute between Nepal and India consisting of at least 37,000 hectares of land in the High Himalayas.

The Kalapani region derives its name from the river Kali. Nepal’s claims to the region is based on this river as it became the marker of the boundary of the kingdom of Nepal following the Treaty of Sugauli signed between the Gurkha rulers of Kathmandu and the East India Company after the Gurkha War/Anglo-Nepal War (1814-16).

According to the treaty of 1816, Nepal lost the regions of Kumaon-Garhwal in the west and Sikkim in the east.

According to Article 5, the King of Nepal gave up his claims over the region west of the river Kali which originates in the High Himalayas and flows into the great plains of the Indian subcontinent

India on the other hand says the border begins at Kalapani which India says is where the river begins

The dispute is mainly because of the varying interpretation of the origin of the river and its various tributaries that slice through the mountains

Lipulekh pass, has been used for centuries by Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims and tourists on their way to Kailash Mansarovar.The nearby markets have been used by various mountain communities. 

During that war of 1962,Chinese forces used the pass of Se La in Tawang and reached the Brahmaputra plains in the east.

King Mahendra reached an agreement with Delhi and handed over the region for security purposes to India.

Former Indian Ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad says the region was always a part of India and India’s claims to the area are based on British Indian maps dating back to the 19th century.

When pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar paused with the takeover of Tibet by Chinese forces in the mid-1950s, India deployed troops at the Lipulekh pass in 1959

life for the locals (Byansis) remained unchanged given the open border and free movement of people and goods.

After the 1996 Treaty of Mahakali that envisaged the Pancheshwar multipurpose hydel project, the issue of the origin of Kali river was first raised in 1997. 

The matter was referred to the Joint Technical Level Boundary Committee that had been set up in 1981

Committee clarified 98% of the boundary, leaving behind the unresolved issues of Kalapani and Susta (in the Terai) when it was dissolved in 2008

It was agreed that the matter would be discussed at the Foreign Secretary level. 

 the 80-km long road from Ghatibagar to Lipulekh was developed in 2009 without any objections from Nepal.

The Survey of India issued a new political map (eighth edition) on November 2, 2019, after the change in the status of Jammu and Kashmir as two Union Territories. Nepal registered a protest though the map had no changed in the boundary between India and Nepal  

the name Kali river had been deleted in the revised edition of the map. Predictably, this led to stronger protests 

By April 2020, Mr. Oli’s domestic political situation was weakening. His methods of  handling of the COVID-19 pandemic added to the growing dissatisfaction. He is seen using the mantle of Nepali nationalism with anti-India slurge to keep himself at Prime Minister's office. 

A new map of Nepal based on the older British survey reflecting Kali river originating from Limpiyadhura in the north-west of Garbyang was adopted by Nepal parliament and notified on May 20.

It adds 335 sq km to Nepali territory, that has never been reflected in a Nepali map for nearly 170 years. 

Nepali nationalism has strong belongingness towards China and that gave leverage to the sense of non-cooperation towards India. 

India has ignored the changing political narrative in Nepal for far too long.

the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship provides for an open border and right to work for Nepali nationals is viewed as a sign of an unequal relationship, and an Indian imposition 

The urgent need today is to pause the rhetoric on territorial nationalism and lay the groundwork for a quiet dialogue 

The Maoist revolution in China in 1949, followed by the takeover of Tibet, created deep misgivings in Nepal, and India was ‘invited’ to set up 18 border posts along the Nepal-Tibet border 

The Tinkar Pass was the westernmost post, about 6 km further east of Lipulekh. In 1953, India and China identified Lipulekh Pass for both pilgrims and border trade. After the 1962 war, pilgrimage through Lipulekh resumed in 1981, and border trade, in 1991.

In 1961, King Mahendra visited Beijing to sign the China-Nepal Boundary Treaty that defines the zero point in the west, just north of Tinkar Pass

By 1969, India had withdrawn its border posts from Nepali territory. The base camp for Lipulekh remained at Kalapani. 

After 1979, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police has manned the Lipulekh Pass.