Nepal has not encroached even an inch of India's land: former PM Oli

Kathmandu, Jun 3 (PTI) Former prime minister K P Sharma Oli on Wednesday slammed incumbent Balendra Shah’s statement in Parliament and asserted that Nepal has not encroached even an inch of Indian territory.

Oli, the former prime minister who lost to Shah in the general elections earlier this year, was speaking at the inaugural session of a two-day national workshop of his party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) — (CPN-UML) – here.

Shah’s comments on Sunday sparked a controversy in the Himalayan nation when he said: “Not only India, but Nepal has also encroached territories of India at many places.” Shah also suggested without elaborating that India and Nepal have agreed to seek help from historians, surveyors and experts

to reach a resolution, adding that Kathmandu has also taken up the matter with China and the United Kingdom. It prompted India to categorically reject any role for third parties to resolve its boundary row with Nepal.

On Wednesday, terming Shah’s statement as “traitorous,” Oli said, “He (Shah) said that Nepal has encroached on Indian land in many places. Not in many places, (Nepal has encroached) not even an inch at any place (of India).” Claiming that the prime minister has made false, untrue, and anti-national statements from the rostrum of Parliament, Oli said, “He should not have said that. For whom and for what was it said?” Oli also opposed the idea of involving another country in resolving issues between two countries. “We will resolve any discussions and disputes with our neighbours ourselves. We will not involve a third party.” Nepal and India have had an old boundary dispute over Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani, with both countries claiming the areas. India maintains that the territories are part of Uttarakhand and has said the issue should be addressed through bilateral dialogue.

On Tuesday, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that while “close to 98 per cent of the India-Nepal boundary has been demarcated, there are some unresolved segments. The shifting of the course of the Gandak river has resulted in this situation.” “In addition, there are cases of cross-border occupation and encroachment of No-Man’s land in demarcated segments of the boundary which are currently being mapped jointly,” Jaiswal added. PTI SBP NPK NPK