Map controversy: Nepal withdraws map proposal covering India's territory

New delhi date. 27 May 2020, Wednesday

Nepal has withdrawn its proposal to present a new map, including some areas of India, following controversy in political relations.

A proposal to amend the constitution was to be tabled in Parliament today to incorporate the map unveiled by Nepal into the country's constitution. But the Nepalese government today removed the constitutional amendment procedure from the agenda of Parliament.

With the mutual consent of both the ruling and opposition parties in Nepal, the Constitution Amendment Bill has been removed from the agenda of the current Parliament. On Tuesday, Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli convened an all-party meeting to seek national consensus on the proposed new map. In this meeting, the leaders of all the parties made suggestions for resolving any issue through dialogue with India.

Nepal has taken this decision on its own for bilateral talks with India. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs had requested for dialogue with Nepal. Nepal has set an example of maturity as diplomacy by not introducing a new map in parliament.

India reacted by showing the Indian territory in its territory in its new political map by Nepal. The External Affairs Ministry advised Nepal to respect India's sovereignty. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "We appeal to the Government of Nepal not to publish such fake cartographs. At the same time, respect the sovereignty and integrity of India.

India said the Nepalese government should reconsider its decision. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the Nepalese government was aware of India's situation in the case.

In fact, the Nepalese government announced a new political map, which also included India's Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura. The revised map of Nepal was presented by the Ministry of Land Resources at a meeting of the Nepal Cabinet. Which was seconded by the cabinet members present at the meeting.

It may be recalled that on May 8, India inaugurated a road from Lipulekh in Uttarakhand to Kailash Mansarovar. Nepal expressed displeasure over this. Nepal then decided to unveil a new political map that included the territory of India in its territory.