In The Absence Of High-Level Talks, Nepal Takes Unilateral Decision
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-06-13 19:34:43
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
The House of Representatives in Nepal's parliament today passed the bill that seeks to incorporate several areas in Uttarakhand in the country's new map. The controversy had raised its head in May and it is a failure of Indian diplomacy that the matter was not resolved through high-level talks. The decision of Nepalese lawmakers has created a serious situation where territory held and administered by India will now appear in two international maps. That India could not persuade even the parties usually well disposed to it not to vote for the motion shows that public opinion in Nepal has turned anti-India over the issue and no political party was willing to risk a public backlash by voting against the motion.
The problem of Nepal's claim over Kalapani is quite old but in recent times, it first arose when Jammu & Kashmir was bifurcated on August 5, 2019, and subsequently India published a new map in November. This new map showed Kalapani, along with Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura as part of the Pithoragarh district in Uttarakhand state. This immediately drew strong protests from Nepal. It drew India's attention to an understanding reached between the prime ministers of both the countries to settle the dispute through negotiations. It decried the unilateral action by India of including Kalapani in its new map. Nepal witnessed street protests over the issue with the people agitated that India was trampling upon Nepal's sovereignty.
The foreign secretaries of the two countries were scheduled to meet but the meeting was postponed due to the pandemic. But when the controversy erupted, the meeting should have been arranged at the earliest to avoid the ugly situation. India should have taken the lead and if a physical meeting was not possible, at least a video conference should have been held. But since that did not happen, attitudes hardened in Nepal after India called its draft map an "unjustified cartographic assertion". India should call for talks at the highest level to resolve the issue before the bill is passed by the National Assembly and becomes law. The matter has to be urgently resolved through talks.
