Nepal summons Indian envoy over border row

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 11

Nepal today summoned Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra and handed over a diplomatic note on the boundary issue arising out of the opening of a road to Kailash Mansarovar.

Kathmandu claims the road, which was inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh last week, traverses Lipulekh, over which it lays claim. However, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson here suggested that a path already being used by pilgrims was blacktopped to benefit a wider cross-section of society, including traders and locals.

Pressure had mounted on the Nepal Government after its MPs called for action over the inauguration of the road. Nepal Communist Party co-chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, locked in a power tussle with Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, urged Nepal to go beyond diplomatic means in settling the border dispute.

Nepal played down the summoning, describing it as a “meeting”, and chose to record its divergence with the Indian stand not by a “protest note” or “demarche” but through a diplomatic note. In its initial reaction on Saturday too, Nepal was conciliatory by suggesting talks between Foreign Secretaries Harsh Vardhan Shringla and Shankar Das Bairagi.