Nepal defers amendment on updating its map

The delay indicates a rethink on the disputed sites and proof that back-channels are in operation

The Nepal government on Wednesday deferred a constitutional amendment for updating its map to include three disputed sites with India at the eleventh hour to build a national consensus on the issue.

The delay indicates a rethink on the disputed sites and proof that back-channels are in operation. Across the political spectrum in Nepal, there is support for the Oli government’s decision to include the three sites — Kalapani, Lipu Lekh and Limpiyadhura — in the map.

The requirement of two-thirds majority for passage of the amendment in both houses of parliament has made some Opposition parties, particularly the Madhesis, to use it as a bargaining tool.

Therefore, the bill was not brought to parliament on Wednesday and the pro-India Nepali Congress too has decided that it wants to refer the issue to its Central Committee to take a final call on the map.

The amendment is required to change Nepal’s map in the coat of arms and emblem.

This apart, there is also a view in Nepal’s corridors of power that the constitutional amendment formalising the new map would then be cast in stone, leaving very little room for diplomacy to resolve the boundary issues.

This is in addition to the scepticism that Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli pressed the nationalism button essentially to tide over problems within his own party.

India did not officially respond to Nepal putting the amendment on hold but sources said “we are carefully following developments in Nepal’’, adding that border issues are sensitive by nature and require trust and confidence to be resolved to mutual satisfaction.

“We note that there is a larger ongoing debate on this matter in Nepal. It underlines the seriousness of this issue. It also demonstrates the value being attached to relations between Nepal and India. We continue to monitor the situation.’’

While the dispute is not new, it got front-loaded in November when India came out with a new map to add the changes in Jammu and Kashmir and included Kalapani within the contours. Nepal objected sharply and twice requested a meeting of the foreign secretary-level boundary mechanism to address the issue. India never responded to the request. Matters came to a head earlier this month when defence minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a road across Lipu Lekh.

Nepal once again objected, summoned the Indian ambassador and called for a meeting of the boundary mechanism but India said this would have to wait till both countries were done combating the pandemic. An observation by Army Chief Manoj Naravane that Nepal may be raising the Lipu Lekh issue at someone else’s behest angered the average Nepali. to the extent that the Oli government ratcheted up matters and announced through the President that a new map would be issued to include the three disputed areas in its territory.

Within days, the map was cleared by the cabinet and released; drawing a sharp response from India that such artificial enlargement of territorial claims will not be accepted’’. Still, diplomats and officials concede that the boundary issue has become live and will remain a constant irritant now in bilateral relations.