Kathmandu: Downplaying the contentious boundary issue with India, Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said on Thursday that such issues are an inevitable feature of relations between neighbouring countries and the dispute is “not as big as it is made out to be”.
Speaking at NDTV World’s ‘Anviksha’ India-Nepal Dialogue on Thursday, Khanal acknowledged that there are “some issues” between the two countries, but said several mechanisms are already in place to address them, including those concerning boundary and border management.
“Only neighbours will have boundary problems. If you’re not a neighbour, you would not have that problem. I mean, we have very open borders. It’s unique in the world. People can just walk without any paper, pretty much. But obviously, there are some issues. It’s not as big as it’s often made out in narratives. Most of these are between Nepal and India and there are many different mechanisms, and among them is one area of boundary and border management as well,” he said.
Nepal and India have long been locked in a boundary dispute over Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani, with India maintaining that the three areas are part of Uttarakhand. Located near the India-China border, the territories remain a point of contention between the two neighbours.
Highlighting “a couple of strong politically charged hotspots on both sides”, Khanal urged India and Nepal to engage in regular dialogue to address these issues.
“And, in that most of the boundary work has been completed, but there are a couple of strong politically charged hotspots on both sides, and my priority as a foreign minister and something that I’d communicated when I was in Delhi last time also is that the problems are obvious between two neighbours. In many areas, but what I would like to see is our mechanisms meet frequently, talk, discuss, as we discuss more, we come to the truth. So I take that approach, and what I’m very happy about in the last few months is that Nepal and India’s mechanisms have begun to function,” he told NDTV.
Expressing confidence that the two countries can overcome the challenges, the minister said, “Several meetings have taken place, including last week in Lucknow and Dehradun on border management, so our mechanisms are active. I feel that as we strengthen our existing institutions, we will be able to overcome the challenges we have.”
Asked when Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah would make a State Visit to India soon and when Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit Nepal, Khanal said that he expects the high-level visits to take place in 2026, while the dates have not yet been finalised.
“There is a lot of anticipation of these high-level visits on both sides. As a foreign ministry, we are always ready to make these visits happen. I do anticipate these visits taking place in 2026. That’s the plan we have. But do we have the dates? We don’t have the dates yet. Both sides are working to make sure that these visits take place at the earliest,” said the minister.
(IANS)
