India: Nepal to protest against India over long-running dispute | Border Conflict Issues

Nepal is complaining after India and China agreed to resume pilgrimage through the Himalayan pass.

Long run border dispute between Nepal and India has erupted after New Delhi announced the resumption of pilgrimage through the Himalayan pass.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kathmandu staged a protest against India on Sunday, criticizing New Delhi for resuming the visit. The Lipulekh Pass, which sits where Nepal meets India and Tibet was claimed by Nepal based on the Sugauli Treaty of 1816, which it entered into with India’s colonial rulers to define its western border.

In its complaint, the ministry emphasized that the areas of Limpiadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani are part of Nepal, “where the government is clear and strong”.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs responded by saying that the Lipulekh has been used by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Bon followers on the Kailash Manasarovar pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar in Tibet since 1954.

“This is nothing new,” the spokesman said. India has been saying that such claims are neither accurate nor based on historical facts and evidence.

The dispute escalated when India announced on Thursday that it had agreed with China to resume the pilgrimage through Lipulekh. It was suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under this plan, 500 Hindu pilgrims will pass through the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand to cross into China at the Lipulekh Pass. Others will use another route through north-eastern India in Sikkim.