Nepal Parliament's lower house passes amendment to include new controversial map

Nepal's lower house of Parliament on Saturday passed an amendment to include a new map incorporating Indian areas of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura in the Constitution of the country.

On June 10, Nepal's House of Representatives had endorsed a proposal seeking consideration of a constitution amendment bill for change of country's map after a lengthy discussion.

Nepal has made offers to India to hold "diplomatic talks to resolve the territorial issue" over the issue.

India has said earlier this week that has made its position clear on these issues and deeply values its civilisation, cultural and friendly relations with Nepal.

After Nepal released a new political map last month showing areas like Lipulekh and Kalapani as its territory, India said such artificial enlargement of territorial claims will not be acceptable to it and noted that the "unilateral act is not based on historical facts and evidence".

Earlier, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had said, "The Government of Nepal has released a revised official map of Nepal today that includes parts of Indian territory. This unilateral act is not based on historical facts and evidence. It is contrary to the bilateral understanding to resolve the outstanding boundary issues through diplomatic dialogue."

"Nepal is well aware of India’s consistent position on this matter and we urge the Government of Nepal to refrain from such unjustified cartographic assertion and respect India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We hope that the Nepalese leadership will create a positive atmosphere for diplomatic dialogue to resolve the outstanding boundary issues," he added. 

The fresh border row started after India inaugurated the construction of a key road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand. Lipulekh pass is a far western point near Kalapani, a disputed border area between Nepal and India.

(With ANI inputs)