After redrawing a controversial map by including Indian Territory and making objectionable comments on Bhagwan Sri Ram’s birthplace, the Nepal Government has now opposed the road link connecting the Kailash Mansarovar through Lipulekh Pass by India.
In a diplomatic note to its counterpart in New Delhi, the Nepal Government has expressed displeasure over the construction of roads and dams citing that such development in India is causing flooding in Nepal. The protest by Nepal has also cast a shadow on the future of the proposed Pancheshwar multipurpose dam project that the two countries are jointly planning to build on the border.
According to Nepal’s newspaper Kantipur, the KP Sharma Oli Government has raised objection to road and dam building by sending diplomatic notes to India. The newspaper quoted Ravindra Nath Shrestha, secretary of Nepal’s Irrigation Ministry, as saying that Nepal Foreign Ministry has raised objection on this matter by sending diplomatic notes to India.
“At the identical time, an attraction has been made to set up a gathering of joint committee of flood and water administration between the two international locations yearly,” he said.
The road link through Lipulakh Pass at a height of 17,000 ft above sea level is supposed to be a shortcut to reach the Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet and will make it easier for devotees to reach the pilgrimage site nestled in the Himalayas. Till now, 76 km of the 80 km stretch, (that will cut down the travel time to two days by vehicles) is completed and the last 4 km stretch till Lipulekh Pass is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.
In a related development, Nepal’s Irrigation Minister Barshaman Pun has directed the officials concerned to prepare for talks with India over the floods and inundation in Nepal’s Tarai region. The minister has directed the officials to call a meeting of the Nepal-India Joint Committee on Inundation and Flood Management (JCIFM) to solve the inundation problem in the border areas.
Nepal Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa has also blamed India for constructing structures along the border. As a result of this, Nepal has been going through a disaster right through the monsoon for a very long time. He stated, ‘The unilateral building of roads and different buildings has doubled the issue of blockading the waters of rivers through dams. Because of this, there may be steady inundation within the southern area of Nepal.
Nepal has earlier sent a diplomatic note to India, expressing displeasure over “some objectionable content” about Nepal and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli by the Indian media. The Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi submitted a note verbale to India’s Ministry of External Affairs early this week.