By Our Reporter
General Manoj Mukund Naravane, Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army is paying a three-day visit to Nepal at the invitation of General Purna Chandra Thapa, Chief of Army Staff of the Nepal Army. According to a source, the tentative date of his arrival is 3 November.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari is going to decorate Gen. Naravane with the honorary title of the chief of the Nepal Army amidst a function. Likewise, the Indian general is paying a courtesy call to the President, Prime Minister and Defence Minister KP Sharma Oli and holding bilateral talks with his Nepali counterpart CoAS Gen. Thapa.
An ice-break visit:
The relations between Nepal and India are passing through a cold phase. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is learnt to have made his all efforts to improve his relations with India, however, the response is not positive.
The Foreign Ministry officials are continuously making efforts to resume impending bilateral meetings of the different level bilateral mechanism between Nepal and India. The Indian response is not positive.
After Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the road in Lipulekh, Kalapani, as link road to Kailash Mansarovar in China on 8 May 2020, the dispute between Nepal and India escalated. The Nepal government protested this incident by sending a diplomatic note to India.
On 2 November 2019, Indian Home Ministry unveiled a new political map, placing Kalapani inside the Indian borders.
Nepal’s Foreign Ministry issued a press statement objecting the Indian move and asserting that Kalapani is an integral part of Nepal.
Furthermore, on 18 May 2020, the Nepal government, following an amendment on the constitution, endorses a new political map placing Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura, occupied territory by India, within its border confirming those land under Nepalese territory.
Indians, on the other hand, are claiming that the territory belongs to India and discarding Nepal’s quest for bilateral talks.
India has not shown interests to talk on the issue of the disputed territory. Just recently, a virtual meeting of the delegations led by the Nepali foreign secretary and the Indian ambassador took place. However, the meeting of the foreign minister-level and secretary-level bilateral mechanism has not been resumed for years.
Nevertheless, on the Indian independence day, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had the opportunity to extend congratulations to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a long-distance call.
India doesn’t want to listen about the Kalapani border dispute. This is the reason that the meeting of the bilateral mechanism has not been resumed in spite of Nepal’s Foreign Ministry’s efforts.
When other efforts have been failed, military diplomacy has been initiated.
The visit of the Indian Army chief was already approved by the cabinet meeting, earlier to the Kalapani dispute. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and also due to the Kalapani territorial dispute, the visit was postponed.
Now, by accepting the invitation from Nepal Army chief Gen Thapa, the Indian Army chief has confirmed his visit to Nepal.
Diplomatic observers have taken it as an ice-break on relations between Nepal and India.
In the past also, military diplomacy was effective to end the bilateral dispute. When India had imposed an economic blockade on Nepal, the then CoAS Gen Rajendra Bahadur Chhetri had paid a visit to India and lobbied with the Indian military officials to lift the blockade.
Finally, as per the Indian military generals’ advised, the blockade on Nepal was lifted by the Modi government, credit goes to the military diplomacy.
In resolving the border dispute, talks are the only alternative left for the two neighbouring countries. In this regard, when Nepal and India are in no talking relations, the visit of the Indian Army chief is very much meaningful. At a time, when India and China are engaged in faceoff position on India-China borders, relations between the two countries are passing through a tense situation. Therefore, we cannot expect that overnight the Indians will quit the occupied Nepali territory Kalapani-Limpiyadhura overnight, however, Nepal can claim its territory by producing necessary historical evidence. When China was able to return Hong Kong and Macau from the British government, sooner or later, India should be compelled to return the Nepali territory. The only thing is that our leaders should have high confidence.
People’s Review Print Edition
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