Why is it in the news?
- India rejected the Nepal government’s move to amend its Constitution and alter its map by including territories that fall under Indian territory.
- Nepal’s Parliament earlier had voted in favour of an amendment to the Constitution to alter the country’s map, to show that the three areas-Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura fall within its own borders.
- India objected to the move and warned Nepal not to resort to any artificial enlargement of territorial claims since it is not based on historical fact or evidence and is not tenable.
About the boundary dispute
- The dispute began after New Delhi issued an official map last year, including the Kalapani and Lipulekh area that Nepal regards as its own.
- The tension escalated further after India inaugurated the 80-km Darchula Lipulekh link road in Uttarakhand, which connects close to the Line of Actual Control and opens a new route for Kailash Mansarovar yatra via the Lipulekh pass.
- India has been in effective possession of the Kalapani territory for at least sixty years and it is not an unprecedented change in the status quo. India has controlled this territory and built other infrastructure here before, besides conducting its administration and deploying military forces up to the border pass with China.
- In a 2015 statement, China also recognised India’s sovereignty by agreeing to expand trade through the Lipulekh pass.
- The region is of strategic importance, and the new road is now one of the quickest links between Delhi and the Tibetan plateau.
- This is also an important route for thousands of Hindus who trek across the border with China every year to visit the sacred Mount Kailash.
[continuation of https://www.manifestias.com/2020/01/23/kalapani-issue/]
Source: Indian Express, The Quint
