Deep ties with Nepal, will hold talks: Rajnath

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 15

Rejecting Nepal’s territorial claim, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh asserted on Monday that the Lipulekh-Dharchula road falls very much in India and conveyed the Modi government’s willingness to sort out the “misunderstanding” with the neighbouring country through dialogue.

Singh talked of the centuries-old ties between the two counties, noting that they were not only social, geographical, historical and cultural but also spiritual. India can never forget this reality and Indians can never have any bitterness towards Nepal, the defence minister added.

Making an overture, he said: “If there is any misunderstanding among the citizens of Nepal, we will resolve it through talks. We will sit down and resolve it.”

“Relations between the two nations are not ordinary. We are bound by ‘roti’ and ‘beti’ (livelihood and marriage). No power in the world can break it,” Singh said in an obvious reference to China’s growing proximity to Nepal. The Defence Minister was speaking at the ‘Uttarakhand Jan Samwaad’ virtual rally organised by the BJP.

The bilateral ties between the two countries came under strain after Singh inaugurated the 80-km-long road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8.