Nepal strongly objects to Kalapani area being included in India as part of new map, says Kathmandu

Kathmandu: The Nepal government on Wednesday made it clear that Kalapani area situated in the country’s far-West lies within the Nepalese boundary, days after India issued new political maps reportedly showing the region as part of its territory. India on Saturday released fresh maps of the newly created Union Territories (UTs) of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh and the map of India depicting these UTs. [caption id=“attachment_7593201” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The new political map of India released by the home ministry.[/caption] In the maps, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is part of the newly created Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, while Gilgit-Baltistan is in the Union Territory of Ladakh. The Nepal government has said the media reports drew its attention to the Kalapani area being included in the new Indian map. The Nepal government is clear that the Kalapani area lies within Nepalese territory, the Nepalese Foreign Ministry said. “During Foreign Secretary-level Joint meetings, responsibility has been assigned to the Foreign Secretaries of both the countries to resolve the remaining border-related issues between Nepal and India in consultation with concerned technicians,” it said in a statement. All the outstanding issues relating to the border between the two countries need to be resolved through mutual understanding and any unilateral move is unacceptable to the Nepal government, the ministry said. “Nepal government is committed to protecting its international border and any border-related issue relating to the two friendly countries need to be resolved through a diplomatic channel on the basis of historical documents and evidence,” the Foreign Ministry said. The Indian embassy officials in Kathmandu were not immediately available for any comment. A report in the local media said Kalapani was a part of the Darchula district of Nepal while the Indian map places it under the Pithoragarh district in the state of Uttarakhand. When contacted, under-secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Suresh Adhikari said the ministry was trying to find out the truth. Director at the Department of Land Measurement of Nepal government Kamal Ghimire said the map was published by the government of India for its internal use and not for international border demarcation. Map meant for demarcation of an international boundary should be sketched on a larger scale, he said.