Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah Discusses Kalapani-Lipulekh Dispute with China and UK Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah announced on Sunday that he had engaged in discussions with China and the United Kingdom regarding the contentious Kalapani-Lipulekh region, according to reports from The Kathmandu Post. The dispute, which has long been a source of tension between Nepal and India, involves the border area near the trijunction of India, Tibet, and Nepal. Shah emphasized that the United Kingdom should also be involved in resolving the issue, citing historical ties to the region during the British colonial era. India has consistently maintained that the Kalapani area is part of the Indian state of Uttarakhand and has rejected Nepal’s territorial claims. Shah, however, accused both Kathmandu and New Delhi of encroaching on each other’s land, though he did not specify which regions in India were allegedly affected. He stated that the Nepali government had sent a diplomatic note to India regarding the encroachment, and that India had responded. The border dispute between India and Nepal escalated in 2019 after Nepal objected to an Indian map that included Kalapani as part of Indian territory. India denied altering its border with Nepal, asserting the map accurately represented its territory. Tensions further intensified in May 2020 when India’s Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, inaugurated a new route for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the Lipulekh Pass. Nepal argued that this road construction violated a 1816 treaty with British colonizers, which it claims grants it sovereignty over the area. In June 2020, Nepal’s Parliament amended its constitution to include the Kalapani-Lipulekh region as part of its territory.#india #united_kingdom #kathmandu_post #nepal_prime_minister_balendra_shah #kalapani_lipulekh
Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah sparked controversy by asserting during a parliamentary session that his country has encroached upon Indian territory, marking the first public statement by a Nepali head of government on the issue. The remarks, made on May 31, 2026, drew immediate backlash from lawmakers, who demanded clarification and the removal of the statement from official records. Shah’s comments came in response to a parliamentary question about the Kalapani region, a long-standing border dispute between Nepal and India. He stated, “I learned only recently—after becoming Prime Minister—that it’s not just India but Nepal too has encroached upon Indian territories in many places,” a claim that ignited outrage. Lawmakers from the Nepali Congress and Nepal Communist Party accused him of making an unsubstantiated and damaging statement. Basana Thapa, Nepali Congress Chief Whip, demanded that Shah specify the exact locations of the alleged encroachment, calling the remark “serious and objectionable.” Ramesh Malla of the Nepal Communist Party warned that the remarks could harm national integrity, questioning how a head of government could publicly assert territorial encroachment. The controversy unfolded against a backdrop of unresolved border disputes. The Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura regions have been points of contention for decades, with India asserting sovereignty over them. Nepal’s claim to these areas gained prominence in 2020 when Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s government amended the constitution to include them in Nepal’s official map, a move that followed India’s 2019 publication of a political map designating the regions as Indian territory.#lipulekh_pass #nepal_prime_minister_balendra_shah #nepali_congress #nepal_communist_party #kalapani_region
