(Daily News Scan - DNS English) Kalapani Dispute
Important Points:
The new political map of India has triggered protest over an old issue in Kathmandu. This map has been released by the government to account for the division of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh ( newly created union territories). Both Nepal and India claim Kalapani as integral part of their territory. The map released showed the disputed Kalapani area as a part of Uttarakhand. Nepal government has protested over this issue, whereas Indian government has stated that new map does not revise the existing boundaries with Nepal.
In this DNS we will look into what the Kalapani dispute between India and Nepal is all about.
Kalapani is a disputed territory between India and Nepal. India claims its part of Kalapani from Uttarakhand Pithoragarh district whereas Nepal claims as part of the Darchula district. River Mahakali, earlier known as river Kali, flows through Kalapani, which is situated on the eastern bank of the river. It is a tri junction point. At this point the Indian, Nepalese and Tibetan (Chinese) borders meet.
The source of the river Mahakali is at the centre of this dispute. In the year 1816, Treaty of Sugauli was signed between British India and Nepal which defined river Mahakali as the Western border of Nepal. The river has several tributaries merging at Kalapani.
India on its side claims that the river originates in Kalapani but Nepal claims that it begins from Lipu Lekh Pass, the origin of most of its tributaries. Nepal has laid claims to all areas east of the Lipu Gad — the rivulet that joins the river Kali on its border, a tri-junction with India and China. Lipu Gad is one of the major tributaries that merge into the main river at Kalapani. Whereas, the Indian side contends that river Mahakali begins where Lipu Gad meets the Kalapani springs.
The origin of the dispute dates back to early 19th century. Politically it emerged as a controversial issue between the two countries India and Nepal after they signed the Treaty of Mahakali in 1996.
In the year 1981, the two countries had formed the Joint Technical Boundary Committee to resolve the dispute. The committee managed to resolve large part of the dispute but failed to reach a final statement.
To back its territorial claims India has furnished administrative and tax record dating back to 1830’s. These records show that since then Kalapani was a part of Pithoragarh district. Along with this INDIA has also shown surveys of the upper reaches of river Mahakali conducted by British Indian Government during the 1870’s. They have also presented a map from 1879, which showed Kalapani as a part of British Indian Territory. Whereas Nepal has also presented maps from 1850 -1856, showing river Mahakali originates from Kalapani.
Nepali authorities claim that people living in the low-density area were included in the Census of Nepal until 58 years ago. A committee formed by the Nepal government to study this claim submitted a report claiming that India had “occupied” an additional 62 sq km land. About this issue the Prime Minster of the two countries in the year 2000 already had a discussion, where in the discussion Nepal was assured that India would not occupy even an inch of Nepal. Five years ago the issue was referred to a new mechanism comprising of foreign secretaries of both sides.
Protests are mounting in Nepal and the Nepal Prime Minister made his first statement on this issue on Sunday saying that Kalapani area at the tri junction of Nepal, India and Tibet belonged to Nepal and India should immediately withdraw its army from there.
Apart from Kalapani there are also unresolved issues which involve the Nepal-Uttar Pradesh Border. For which the Prime Minister of India on his visit to Nepal in the year 2014 had said to resolve soon.
The escalated tension over the Kalapani issue may have grave repurcussions for the countries if not resolved. Kalapani is just like Dokalam the difference being that Doklam is trijunction where borders of India China and Bhutan meets whereas Kalapani is a trijunction with borders of India Nepal and Tibet merging here. India is worried over the expansionist policy of China and growing intimacy between China and Nepal. While the two countries have made a lot of headway in ties, sensitive issues such as border need to be handled carefully and New Delhi has to be mindful of Nepal’s concerns.
