Context
In its first reaction after the announcement of construction of a road in Lipulekh led to an outrage among the polity in Nepal, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said the position of the Government of India on the India-Nepal boundary is known and has been conveyed to the Nepali Government.
About Lipulekh Pass
- Lipulekh lies at the tri-junction between India’s northern Uttarakhand state, China and Nepal.
- The Lipulekh pass is a far western point near Kalapani, a border area between Nepal and India.
- Both India and Nepal claim Kalapani as an integral part of their territory — India as part of Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district and Nepal as part of Dharchula district.
Background
- The bilateral ties came under strain under then prime minister K P Sharma Oli after India opened an 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8, 2020.
- Nepal first protested the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through its territory, and days later, it came out with a new map showing Lipulekh, Kalapani and Limpiyadhura as its territories.
- India reacted sharply to the move.
