New Delhi: Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday said that the country’s government is ready to take back the "disputed land currently occupied by India". During the Budget presentation, Deuba said that his government is committed to protecting the land that belongs to Nepal, IANS reported. He said that since the issue is sensitive, the government will resolve the issue through talks and diplomatic means while asserting that Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura belong to Nepal. Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Oli, while addressing the House on Friday, criticised the Deuba government for 'failing to take back the land occupied by India'.
There has been a boundary dispute over the Kalapani area between Nepal and India for a long time and the bilateral relations hit the bottom low after the K.P. Oli government in 2020 May unveiled a new political map incorporating Kalpani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura which are all Indian territories.
According to the IANS report, India had rejected the unilateral territorial extension by Nepal as a "cartographic assertion" and called Nepal to settle the dispute through established diplomatic mechanisms.
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Deuba said that relations with India are multidimensional and areas of cooperation are diverse.
"We are pursuing the policy of non-alignment while conducting our foreign relations. While keeping the national interest, mutual benefits and respect, the government is committed to strengthening and seeping its relations with neighbours and all friendly nations. And the government is also committed to protecting the land belonging to Nepal," IANS quoted Deuba replying to Oli.
This comes just a few weeks after PM Narendra Modi's short trip to Lumbini on the occasion of Buddha Purnima, he was invited by PM Deuba. During the 5-hour long trip, bilateral relations between India and Nepal were discussed. A roadmap was also set for the future partnership between India and Nepal. PM Modi also participated in the 'foundation' ceremony for the construction of a Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage on a plot of land of the International Buddhist Confederation (IBC), New Delhi.