New Delhi: Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal on Sunday said his government wants to resolve the border row with India through diplomacy adding that no problem is too large, and no boundary too complex which cannot be resolved with open heart, a rational mind and mutual respect.
Speaking to media after concluding his three-day tour to India during which he held wide ranging talks with External Affairs Dr S. Jaishankar, Mr Khanal underlined that the new government in Kathmandu does not look at India through the “distorted, hyper-sensitive lens of 21st century geopolitics” and instead aims to see it with “clear eyes and a single transparent agenda of economic transformation of Nepal”. He added that Nepal wants to build a mutually beneficial relationship for overall prosperity of both the nations.
On Nepal’s objection to using its route for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, the minister said that Kathmandu has a problem with India and China using the Nepal route without its content. “Kailash Mansarovar Yatra happens through very different border points. Many travel through Nepal. Our concerns are with the renewal of the agreement between India and China through the Kalapani and Lipulekh area, where we have said for a very long time that the land belongs to us, and without Nepal’s consent, the two countries by themselves cannot make those agreements. And we have made that very clearly known through our communication, including diplomatic notes to both countries,” said Mr Khanal.
Referring to the old border dispute between the two nations over Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani in Uttarakhand, the Nepalese minister said “true interdependence” means shared borders act as “highly efficient bridges, not frustrating barriers”.
“Let us build a partnership that is not constrained by the anxieties of the past, but one that is fuelled by the high hopes and promising prospects of our shared future,” he said.
His three-day trip to New Delhi from Friday came against the backdrop of a raging controversy triggered by Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s recent remarks on the boundary row between the two sides. Mr Shah had also suggested involvement of China and the UK to resolve the issue, which India has outrightly rejected involvement of any “third party” in its bilateral disputes.
On this the Nepalese minister clarified that the involvement of the UK was meant in the context of availing documents and historical details from British libraries and museums.
“We want to solve our disputes through diplomatic processes. We just want to see if we can access some of the documents that might be in libraries or museums in the UK. Our position was not that we were asking for mediation,” he said.
“Rather than engaging in hyper-nationalistic grandstanding, we are pursuing calm, data-driven and evidence-based discussions to resolve challenges in good faith…No problem is too large, and no boundary too complex, when we sit down with an open heart, a rational mind and mutual respect,” the minister added.
At the same time, the Nepalese foreign minister asserted that Nepal seeks resolution of the issue with India through existing bilateral mechanisms. He added the new government in Nepal has a strong desire to deepen ties with India.
“When we look across the border, we see a rising India — an India that has fundamentally and beautifully redefined itself on the global stage as a dynamic, fast-growing tech and economic powerhouse,” he added.
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