The head of the research and analysis wing, Samant Kumar Goel, visited the residence of the Prime Minister of Nepal. (File)
Kathmandu:
Research and Analysis (R&AW) Wing Chief Samant Kumar Goel paid a courtesy visit to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and said India would not allow amicable bilateral relations with Nepal and resolve all outstanding issues through dialogue, according to a senior Nepalese official.
His visit precedes the next official trip of the head of the Indian army, General MM Naravane, to Nepal during the first week of November.
Goel called Prime Minister Oli at his official residence in Baluwatar on Wednesday evening, Prime Minister’s press advisor Surya Thapa told News Agency PTI.
During the meeting, Mr. Goel “expressed his views on not allowing the interruption of friendly relations between Nepal and India, resolving all outstanding issues through dialogue and cooperation mutual continues, ”Thapa said.
Sources said the head of India’s external intelligence agency is also expected to meet with heads of various security agencies in Nepal, including the Nepalese military, during his visit.
Ties between the two countries have been strained after Defense Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a strategically crucial 80 km road on May 8 connecting the Lipulekh Pass to Dharchula in Uttarakhand.
Nepal protested the inauguration of the road, claiming that it crossed its territory. A few days later, Nepal released the new map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as its territories.
Amid the dispute, General Naravane said there was reason to believe Nepal was opposing the road at the behest of “someone else”. The comments sparked angry reactions from Nepal.
India also released a new map in November 2019 showing areas as its territories.
After Nepal released the map, India reacted sharply, calling it a “unilateral act” and warning Kathmandu that such “artificial enlargement” of land claims would not be acceptable to it.
In June, the Nepalese Parliament approved the new political map of the country with the areas to which India maintains their membership.
In its reaction, after Nepal’s lower house of parliament approved the bill, India called “the artificial enlargement” of the neighboring country’s land claims as unsustainable.
India said Nepal’s action violated an agreement between the two countries to resolve border issues through talks. Prime Minister Oli asserted that Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura belong to his country and promised to “recover” them from India.
Lipulekh Pass is a point in the west near Kalapani, a disputed border area between Nepal and India. India and Nepal claim Kalapani as an integral part of their territory – India in the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand and Nepal in the Dharchula district.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
