Controversy Over Lipulekh Rages In Nepal swarajyamag.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from swarajyamag.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In its first reaction after the announcement of the construction of a road in Lipulekh led to an outrage among the polity in Nepal, Indian Embassy in Kathmandu on Saturday said the position of the Government of India on the India-Nepal boundary is known and has been conveyed to the Nepali Government.
The outrage began after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an election rally in the Haldwani area of Uttarakhand on December 30, had announced that his government has extended a road to Lipulekh and further expansion work is going on.
The statement of the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu came days after Nepal's main Opposition Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) urged Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to speak up on the boundary issue and make its position clear on Lipulekh.
During an election rally on December 30 in Uttarakhand, Modi had said that his government is expanding the road built across the Lipulekh area, which the Himalayan state also claims as its own.
Since time immemorial, people-to-people relations between Nepal and India have remained unique mainly because it is based on the twin pillars of an open border system and people-to-people contacts of kinship. Because of the open border system, the citizens of these countries cross over the Nepal-India border for livelihood opportunities apart from marriages; familial ties; cultural, social, and economic security; and even political affairs. Also, the over 80 percent Hindu population in both countries integrate the people.
Given his Neighbourhood First Policy and the importance that Nepal holds in India’s strategic consideration, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, visited Nepal four times during his tenure of six years, which reflects the priority that the Indian government accords to its relations with Kathmandu.