India rejects Nepal’s claim on border road

India has rejected Nepal's claim that a road recently opened to facilitate pilgrims' travel to Kailash-Manasarovar in Tibet passes through Nepalese territory and asserted that the area lies completely within Indian borders.

The high-altitude road from Dharchula to Lipulekh in Uttarakhand state of India near the China border, which cuts the distance to Mansarovar by 10 kilometres, was inaugurated by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh last Friday.

On Saturday, Nepal's foreign ministry came out with a statement that, "The government of Nepal has learnt with regret about the inauguration yesterday (Friday) by India of a link road connecting to Lipulek (Nepal) passing through it."

"The unilateral act runs against the understanding reached between the two countries including at the prime ministers' level that a solution to the boundary issue would be sought through negotiation," the statement added.

Responding to Nepal's contention, Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson for the Indian external affairs ministry, said on Saturday that "the recently-inaugurated road section in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand (in India) lies completely within the territory of India.

"The road follows the pre-existing route used by the pilgrims of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. Under the present project, the same road has been made pliable for the ease and convenience of pilgrims, locals and traders," he said.

The news of the inauguration of the road prompted protests by students in Nepal's capital Kathmandu, including one in front of the Indian Embassy there.

The statement from Nepal said: "The government of Nepal remains committed to seek diplomatic solution to the boundary issues on the basis of historical treaty, documents, facts and maps in keeping with the spirit of close and friendly ties between the two countries."

On the other hand, Srivastava said India and Nepal have an established mechanism to deal with all boundary matters. "The boundary delineation exercise with Nepal is ongoing. India is committed to resolving outstanding boundary issues through diplomatic dialogue and in the spirit of our close and friendly bilateral relations with Nepal."

He said the two countries "are also in the process of scheduling foreign secretary-level talks which will be held once the dates are finalised between the two sides after the two societies and governments have successfully dealt with the challenge of COVID 19 emergency."