India-Nepal Boundary Dispute Can Be Resolved With Open Heart, Mutual Respect: Nepal FM
New Delhi: Nepalese Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal said on Sunday that his government wants to resolve the border dispute with India through diplomacy, adding that no problem is too big and no border is too complex that cannot be resolved with an open heart, a rational mind and mutual respect.
Foreign Affairs Dr. Speaking to the media after completing his three-day tour of India, where he held wide-ranging talks with S. Jaishankar, Mr. Khanal emphasized that the new government in Kathmandu does not look at India through the “distorted, hypersensitive lens of 21st century geopolitics” and instead aims to see it with “clear eyes and a single transparent agenda for Nepal’s economic transformation.” He added that Nepal wants to establish a mutually beneficial relationship for the overall welfare of both nations.
On Nepal’s objection to using the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra route, the minister said Kathmandu has a problem with India and China using the Nepal route without its context. “Kailash Mansarovar Yatra passes through many different border points. Many of them travel through Nepal. Our concerns are about the renewal of the agreement between India and China through Kalapani and Lipulekh region, where we have been saying for a very long time that the land belongs to us and the two countries alone cannot make these agreements without Nepal’s consent. And we have made this very clear through our communications, including the diplomatic notes we have sent to both countries,” he said.
Referring to the old border dispute between the two countries over Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani in Uttarakhand, the Nepalese minister said “true interdependence” means shared borders act as “highly efficient bridges, not frustrating barriers”.
“Let’s build a partnership that is not limited by the anxieties of the past, but fueled by high hopes and hopeful expectations for our common future,” he said.
His three-day visit to New Delhi, starting Friday, comes in the backdrop of fierce debate triggered by Nepali Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s recent statements on the border dispute between the two sides. Mr. Shah also suggested the involvement of China and Britain to resolve the issue; India, on the other hand, has flatly rejected the involvement of any “third party” in bilateral disputes.
In this regard, the Nepali minister explained that the UK’s participation was aimed in the context of benefiting from documents and historical details from British libraries and museums.
“We want to resolve our disputes through diplomatic processes. We want to see if we can get access to some documents that may only be available in libraries or museums in the UK. Our position was not that we were seeking mediation,” he said.
“Instead of taking an overly nationalist stance, we pursue calm, data-driven and evidence-based discussions to resolve challenges in good faith… No problem is too big and no boundary is too complex when we sit with an open heart, a rational mind and mutual respect,” the minister said. he added.
At the same time, Nepal’s foreign minister maintained that Nepal is trying to resolve the issue with India through existing bilateral mechanisms. He added that the new government in Nepal has a strong desire to deepen ties with India.
“Looking across the border, we see an emerging India; an India that is fundamentally and beautifully redefining itself as a dynamic, fast-growing technology and economic powerhouse on the global stage,” he added.
