Why PM Balen Shah's India-Border Dispute Remarks Have Triggered Many In Nepal

Nepal Prime Minister Balen Shah has triggered a political storm at home after claiming that the Himalayan nation had also encroached on Indian territory despite Kathmandu's consistent complaints about alleged Indian encroachment. Shah made the claims during his maiden address to the Nepali Parliament since becoming the South Asian nation's youngest prime minister earlier this year.

He acknowledged that the border dispute involving Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani areas remains a sore point in bilateral ties and said both nations should seek the help of historians, surveyors and experts to resolve the issue, adding that Kathmandu has also taken up the matter with China and the United Kingdom.

Nepal and India share a long and open border, much of which was defined by the 1816 Treaty of Sugauli. However, mapping remains incomplete in areas such as Susta and Limpiyadhura-Lipulekh-Kalapani. The long-running border dispute has remained one of the key irritants in bilateral relations.

Though Nepal has consistently complained about Indian encroachment on Nepali land, Prime Minister Shah's remarks appeared to suggest that encroachment has taken place from both sides.

India has, meanwhile, maintained that the territories are part of Uttarakhand and has said the issue should be addressed through bilateral dialogue.

Shah's statement soon received backlash, with opposition political parties, foreign affairs experts, and border analysts criticising his comments, saying they undermined Nepal's long-standing position on the border dispute with India and weakened Nepal's stance in future negotiations with New Delhi on border issues.

What The Nepal PM Said

In his maiden appearance in the ongoing parliament session that started on May 11, 35-year-old Shah said, "You will be surprised to know a fact that I have learnt recently, only after becoming prime minister. India has not only encroached Nepali territory, but Nepal has also encroached Indian territory in many places."

"Now both countries should study the facts and sit together as friends and resolve the issue," he added.

Shah, however, did not disclose any details about where Nepal had allegedly encroached on Indian land. He told Parliament that Nepali lawmakers have taken up the matter with China and the United Kingdom -- the latter due to its colonial legacy in the region.

The Controversy

Shah's comments about Nepal encroaching on Indian territories soon triggered a controversy, with Opposition lawmakers, including Basana Thapa of the Nepali Congress and Ramesh Malla of the Nepali Communist Party, objecting to the PM's comments and demanding that they be expunged from the parliamentary record.

They said the prime minister should either provide evidence to support his claim that Nepal had encroached on Indian territory or withdraw the statement.

Former Nepalese ambassador to India Nilambara Acharya told the Kantipuronline media portal that Shah has "no information regarding Indian territories being encroached upon by Nepal."

According to Acharya, 97 per cent of the border disputes between the two sides have already been resolved. "There are reports about some Nepalese using land in India and some Indians using land in Nepal due to the missing border pillars in some border areas," he said, but the Nepal government, as such, has not encroached on India's territory.

Another former ambassador of Nepal to India, Deep Kumar Upadhyay, said that Nepal's encroachment on India's territory is not documented in any record.

"India has also not raised this issue on record...So far, we have conducted studies, but this issue has never surfaced...I don't know in which context the prime minister spoke about such a serious matter," he told the Nepalpress online news portal.

Many Nepalese social media users also criticised the prime minister's comments, while several experts dismissed them.

Nepal's Clarification

After the controversy erupted over Shah's comments, the Nepal government went into damage control mode, claiming the prime minister was talking about "cross-border occupation" and encroachment in the no-man's land along the border with India. In a statement, the country's Foreign Ministry said the Shah's comments were connected to technical studies conducted in border areas where citizens of one country have been using or occupying land that technically falls within the territory of the other country.

"The matter mentioned by the Prime Minister in Parliament was primarily related to encroachment in the no-man's land area and cross-border occupation," the statement said.

The Ministry noted that due to the "Fixed Boundary Principle" adopted in river boundary areas, situations have emerged in some places where Nepali citizens cultivate or reside on land technically located on the Indian side, while Indian citizens use land falling within Nepal's territory.

The Foreign Ministry reiterated that Nepal's official position regarding disputed border areas, including Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani, remains unchanged and that unresolved border issues would be addressed through diplomatic dialogue and mutual understanding with India.

According to the ministry, technical committees and border mechanisms of the two countries are currently engaged in repairing border pillars, addressing encroachment in the no-man's land, and collecting records of cross-border occupation in mapped areas along the frontier.

India's Position

There was no immediate response from the Indian side on Shah's comments, but earlier this month, while rejecting Nepal's objection to the upcoming Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the long-established Lipulekh Pass, India had dismissed Kathmandu's territorial claims over the region as an "unilateral artificial enlargement" that New Delhi finds "untenable".

India maintains that the disputed areas are part of Uttarakhand and has said the issue should be addressed through bilateral dialogue. In fact, there is no known instance of India formally accusing Nepal of encroaching on Indian territory.