Kalapani Area Belongs To Nepal, India Should Immediately Withdraw Army: Prime Minister KP Oli

With senior Nepalese political leaders mounting pressure to resolve the border issue of Kalapani area with India, Prime Minister KP Oli recently said that the area belonged to Nepal and ‘India should immediately withdraw its army from there’. This is Nepal PM’s first public response to a controversy that got triggered after Delhi issued new political maps reportedly showing the region as part of its territory.

The map released depicted newly created Union Territories (UTs) of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. 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.

“We will not allow even an inch of our territory to be occupied by any country, India must vacate it,” Oli said. However, he later denied rumours that Nepal came out with an amended map including the contested areas.

India had said that the new map issued by it accurately depicts its sovereign territory and it has in no manner revised its boundary with Nepal. “Our map accurately depicts the sovereign territory of India. The new map has in no manner revised our boundary with Nepal,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had said.

The issue triggered protests in Nepal, compelling Prime Minister Oli to call for an all-party meeting to forge a common stand of all sides on the issue of national importance.