Tensions on the border are straining Nepal-India relations
Tensions on the border are straining Nepal-India relations
WRITTEN BY DINESH BHATTARAI
19 August 2020
The age-old and intimate relations between Nepal and India are multifaceted, multidimensional, and interdependent. They extend beyond the level of governments to deep people-to-people ties. Recently, however, bilateral relations have been fraught with overarching complexities.
The current border row between the two countries concerns an area covering 395 square kilometres comprising Kalapani, Lipu-Lekh, and Limpiyadhura (KLL). Nepal’s ownership of this territory had been delimited and delineated by the 1816 treaty of Sugauli with the then British government in India. According to the terms of that treaty, Nepal lost its territory to the west of the Mahakali river. The current dispute concerns the territory on the eastern side of the Mahakali river, a strategic area at the trijunction between Nepal, India, and China. This area has been under India’s control since the 1962 Sino-Indian border war. India’s refusal to vacate this region forms the crux of the matter in the present row between Kathmandu and New Delhi.
The historical background
Indian control of the KLL area remained a dormant issue until Nepal’s democratic transition in 1990 when it was recognised as an outstanding boundary problem after Nepal raised the issue with India. The matter was transferred to the existing Joint Technical Level Boundary Committee (JTC) in 1997, which completed preparing 182 strip maps covering about 97 per cent of the border in 2007. However, it left the areas of Kalapani in the far west and Susta in the south to be resolved at the political level.
India considers South Asia as its ‘core area of influence’. India has rarely shown sensitivity to Nepal’s concerns and interests as a neighbour and believes it has a ‘natural’ right to interfere in Kathmandu’s internal affairs.
The government of Nepal has also repeatedly raised this issue during prime ministerial visits to India, and differences in territorial perceptions are clearly mentioned in official joint statements. Indeed, Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala raised it again during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal in 2014. They agreed to include Kalapani/Susta as an “outstanding issue” and directed their foreign secretaries to work on it as a priority.
The border issue, however, became more complicated when India and China included Lipu-Lekh in their joint statement during Modi’s visit to China in May 2015 without Nepal’s consent, understanding, and involvement. The statement declared the two countries’ agreement on “enhancing border area cooperation through border trade, pilgrimage by people of two countries and other exchanges” to “effectively promote mutual trust” and agreed “to further broaden this cooperation so as to transfer the border into a bridge of cooperation and exchanges”.
It further expressed the intention to “…expand border trade at Nathu La, Qiangla/Lipu-lekh Pass, and Shipki La”. While Lipu-Lekh pass is located on the Nepal-China border, the other two passes are along the India-China border.
The view from Nepal
The current round of tensions occurred after India unilaterally included the KLL area in its map published on 2 November 2019, to reflect the changed status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir as union territories. Nepal protested, calling it a violation of prior understandings between the two sides.
Making it clear that India’s action was unacceptable, Nepal requested a dialogue to seek a resolution. Kathmandu wrote to New Delhi several times; it received no response. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, on 8 May, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh virtually inaugurated the 80 km long Mansarovar Tirtha Yatra road, a section of which passes through Nepali territory. This inauguration fuelled further concerns in Nepal regarding India’s strategic intentions.
India in response claims Kalapani as its territory and rejects Nepal’s inclusion of this area in its map as: “artificial enlargement of claims is not based on historical fact or evidence and is not tenable. It is also violative of our current understanding to hold talks on outstanding boundary issues”.
The 1816 treaty of Sugauli establishes the Mahakali River as the western boundary of Nepal. However, there are conflicting claims by both Nepal and India about the origin of the river, which is not mentioned in the treaty. Nepal claims that the river originates in Limpiyadhura, and Kalapani and Lipulekh are located to the east of the river in Nepali territory. India claims that the river originates from the Kalapani fountain in the east. As Buddhi Narayan Shrestha writes, the most important element “is to delineate and determine the origination of the River Kali” to settle the issue.
On 19 May, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi also stated that Beijing had rejected an Indian offer to hold border meetings in Kalapani, and added that “unless there is a resolution of the Kalapani question between Nepal and India, any such move on the part of China is out of the question”. He also expressed hope that: “the two countries will resolve their differences properly through friendly consultations and refrain from taking any unilateral action that may complicate the situation”.
The present position
India considers South Asia as its ‘core area of influence.’ India has rarely shown sensitivity to Nepal’s concerns and interests as a neighbour and believes it has a ‘natural’ right to interfere in Kathmandu’s internal affairs. In 2015, India imposed an economic blockade after the promulgation of an inclusive democratic constitution written by the Nepalese people’s elected representatives in the constituent assembly, which is exclusively an internal matter.
Lately, the Indian media has projected the Nepali government as ‘China’s puppet’ and has sought to bring Beijing into the dispute. Indian media have alleged that Nepal has raised the border issue at a time when relations between Beijing and New Delhi have experienced the worst deterioration since 1975. While the loss of life at the Sino-Indian border for the first time in 45 years is unfortunate, the Kalapani issue has been on the agenda and remains unresolved for over six decades.
India is in denial of reality and this is concerning. New Delhi is giving the impression that its investments in Nepal’s political parties have not been rewarding. Yet, Nepal’s parliament has shown an unprecedented consensus and national unity in passing a constitutional amendment that incorporates the KLL. The current gridlock in Nepal-India relations represents a low point in bilateral relations and it is imperative to open the door for dialogue without preconditions. Nepal has made its desire for this clear — now it is up to India to open the doors for dialogue.
The way forward
Allowing this border issue to fester will only deepen fault lines in a critical relationship. The erosion of trust aided and abetted by mutual suspicions at the government level has already done considerable damage to relations and appears to be percolating down to the popular level, weakening age-old societal linkages across civil society. However, as neighbours, Nepal and India have no choice but to be friendly and open the process of negotiations for border settlement in the spirit of mutual understanding and mutual accommodation (MUMA).
Introspection and diplomacy are needed on both sides in order to solve the border. Leaders must step in to arrest the slide and engage in meaningful talks by comparing evidence and historical facts to seek a mutually acceptable resolution to this dispute.
Kathmandu stands ready for cooperation with New Delhi on COVID-19, climate change and on trade, but as a sovereign nation, it cannot be expected to compromise on respect and dignity. It is time for India to practice what it preaches: “No country can accept any project that ignores the core concerns of its sovereignty and territorial integrity”. Nepal and India should remain sensitive to each other’s concerns and work to protect the long history of peaceful neighbourly relations carefully and rationally.
DISCLAIMER: All views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of the 9DASHLINE.com platform.
Author biography
Dinesh Bhattari is the former ambassador of Nepal to the United Nations and the former foreign affairs adviser to the Prime Minister of Nepal. He is currently a member of the faculty at the Institute of Crisis Management Studies, Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Image credit: Ministry of External Affairs (India)/Flickr.