KATHMANDU, May 12: The main opposition party, Nepali Congress (NC), has urged the government to resolve the border disputes surrounding Limpiadhura and Lipulekh through high-level diplomatic negotiations with both India and China.
NC Spokesperson Bishwa Prakash Sharma urged the government to initiate diplomatic negotiations with both these immediate neighbors to find a permanent solution to this decades-long border disputes as these parts lie in the trijunction between Nepal, India, and China.
"The matured strategy of Nepal now should be to find a long-term solution on the basis of clear concept and historical pieces of evidence with both the friendly nations," said Sharma in a press statement on Monday.
The NC has said that issuing a simple press statement or diplomatic note does not fulfill the responsibility of the government and that high-level diplomatic negotiation with adequate homework is essential to resolve this problem.
The NC's call for the high-level negotiation comes after India recently inaugurated the Highway that passes through the Nepali territory of Lipulekh and Limpiadhura as defined by the Sugauli Treaty reached between Nepal and then British-India in 1816.
NC has said that recognition of the historical fact that the origin of the Mahakali River as stipulated in the historic Sugauli treaty that recognizes the eastern side of Kali River as the territory of Nepal could help resolve the border disputes.
The NC has reiterated that the Indian army should be withdrawn from the territories that lie in the eastern part of Mahakali River and Nepal should have sovereign rights over the territory defined by the Sugauli Treaty. "The construction of road encroaching upon Nepali land and direct interference on Nepal's sovereignty is not acceptable to us," the party said in the statement.
The party has reminded that the NC-led government had strongly protested the agreement reached between India and China to build a road connecting to Pithouragadh to Manasarovar via Lipulekh in May 2015. "While recalling the protest note sent to both the countries, we stress on the need to hold serious negotiation with both the countries on this issue," the party added in the statement.